I am Iron Man
by Airbrushed
Summary: Loki loves making life difficult for Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers. While debriefing with Director Fury after their most recent mission, the lights go out, but when they turn back on, the group is surprised to see a box with a DVD labeled 'IRON MAN.' The team comes to realize they can't leave until they watch the movie. Tony is not happy. Characters belong to Marvel.
1. Chapter 1: I am Iron Man

_Summary: Loki loves making life difficult for Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers. While debriefing with Director Fury after their most recent mission, the lights go out, but when they turn back on, the group is surprised to see a box with a DVD labeled 'IRON MAN.' The team comes to realize they can't leave until they watch the movie. Tony is not happy._

 **A/N: Hello! Here is a sneak peak at new story #1. I tried posting this once already but the format was incorrect, so I apologize. I will start regularly posting for this story once I'm further along in the writing process, but I couldn't help myself. Please enjoy and comment what you think.**

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The mission wasn't difficult.

Get in, destroy the weapons, stop the operation, wrangle up the bad guys, and get out. It was easy, and it had gone smoothly. No one was hurt, barely even a scratch. They left the scene once SHIELD arrived, leaving the prisoners in their mostly capable hands. They boarded the Quinjet, and this time, Tony tagged along, even though he usually flies off on his own. Clint was flying, and since no one was seriously injured, they all agreed to go back to the helicarrier and debrief with Director Fury before returning to the tower.

The rest of the team took their seats, still in their uniforms, or in Tony's case, his armor. When he sat down and removed his helmet, it was obvious to Steve that he hadn't slept or eaten much. Everyone knew it; he was always in his lab, working on improving his suits or upgrading their weapons. As much as Steve was grateful for all Stark did for them, he wished the man took better care of himself. He never nagged him about it too much, though. Although they were much better friends than before the Battle of New York, they still argued every now and then. Tony Stark is a very difficult person to get along with, and he can be quite rude without even realizing it. So Steve avoids quarrels with him as much as possible, and if that means giving him space and letting him lock himself in his lab, then so be it.

He still hates it though.

He hates that he doesn't know anything about Howard Stark's son, and he also hates how different Tony is than his father. Howard was a good man, not that Tony isn't. I mean, he flew a nuke into a wormhole and saved all of New York, but he was just irritating. He always has to be right, and even though he is most of the time, it still gets on Steve's nerves. He's unbelievably stubborn, and has zero self preservation skills. He seems to know everything about everyone, yet no one knows a damn thing about him. Steve knows Stark doesn't read the more personal parts of the team's files, just the basic knowledge. In fact, everyone on the team has read each other's SHIELD file, but there is absolutely nothing revealing how Tony became Iron Man, or how he got the arc reactor. He knows better than to ask, after seeing the man's reaction when he asked him about Howard, he wouldn't even dream of it.

"JARVIS, baby, tell the Cyclops we'll be in the conference room in about 10 minutes."

Steve is shaken from his thoughts when he hears Tony's voice in the Quinjet. He's surprised to see that they've already arrived on the Helicarrier, and stands with the rest of his team as they exit the jet.

10 Minutes Later:

"The weapons not brought in for examination were destroyed, Director. There were no casualties, either. SHIELD agents came and cleaned up once the objective was completed. I'd say it went very smoothl-"

"Are we boring you, Mr. Stark?" Fury cut off Steve just before he finished giving his verbal report, eyeing the billionaire who was seated at the end of the conference table, tapping away at his phone.

"Nope; weapons destroyed, no casualties. I was there, you know." He says without even looking up from his phone, completely ignoring the gazes of his team mates.

Steve's had enough. He does this after every mission; it wouldn't kill him to be responsible for one god damn hour.

"We know you were there. Which is why you need to be paying attention, _Stark._ Just because you think you can do whatever you want, doesn't mean you have the right to be downright rude and se-"

Steve is cut off yet again when the lights flicker once, then completely fade out, leaving the group in darkness. Steve can hear Natasha, Clint, and Fury drawing their weapons. Banner is most likely still sitting quietly, but he can't tell in the dark. The only light in the room is the glow of Tony's arc reactor through his T-Shirt, having removed the armor a few minutes ago.

"Really Stark?! What the hell did you do?"

"What?!" The billionaire's voice sprang through the darkness, obviously on the defensive, "This wasn't me!"

This time, it's Director Fury who speaks, but he's speaking into his com, not to the Avengers.

"Hill? Do you copy?"

No answer.

He's about to try again when the lights flicker back on, revealing the group of heroes, tense and ready for an attack at any second. They're almost surprised when there is none.

"Hill?" When there is still no response, Nick grunts and turns to face the rest of the group, "Powers back, but the coms aren't working. Something is going on, so if this was you, Stark, you better speak up now."

"It wasn't me, I already told you. Don't get your panties in a twi-"

"Hey, when did that get there?" All eyes turn to Clint, following his gaze to a brown cardboard box sitting in the middle of the table. "That wasn't there before, right?"

"No, it wasn't." Natasha responds and raises her gun again, aiming it at the box in question. The group exchanges a few glances, silently debating who's going to open it. When everyone turns to look at Clint, he sighs and throws his hands up.

"Fine, I'll open it." He turns to Natasha as he steps closer to the box, "If something jumps out at me, please shoot it, and if you can, try to avoid shooting me."

She smirks and raises an eyebrow, but gives an assuring nod as the archer reaches towards the flaps, slowly and cautiously opening them up.

"The fuck?" Everyone in the room tenses as Clint reaches into the box.

"What is it?" Steve sounds a little weary, but quickly hides it with his Captain America tone.

Clint raises the object out of the box, revealing what appeared to be a DVD case.

"Apparently, Iron Man." This raises a few eyebrows as everyone leans in to inspect the case. There are four recognizable faces on the cover; Tony, the Iron Man armor, Pepper, and Rhodey. There's another man in the center, but no one seems to recognize him except Tony, Natasha, and Fury.

All eyes fall off the case and to Tony, who has just become the purple elephant in the room. He's slightly paler, but he still has that snarky look on his face, even if it is sprinkled with layers on confusion.

"Why do you all keep looking at me!"

"There's more," They look back at Barton who has pulled a note out of the bottom of the box.

"Oh no."

"Read it." Steve orders, and Barton hesitantly complies.

 _"Dear Avengers,_

 _I do hope you'll enjoy your gift. I made it special for you, so you can all see the man you think you know, for who he truly is. You might be asking why? It's a very good question, and the answer is simple: It will break him. This is not a trick, I guarantee you that, but you will not be allowed to leave this room until the movie has been completed. Should you feel the need to talk and converse amongst yourselves about the events in said film, the disk will automatically pause. This is to ensure no one misses a single detail. Pay good attention, Avengers. Watch him break._

 _Loki."_

When Clint finishes reading, no one says anything for at least a full minute.

"…How is that possible?" Natasha looks to Thor, who is now standing and clutching Mjolnir with white knuckles. "I thought you said Loki was in Asgardian prison?"

"He is. Or he was, perhaps. I do not know, I have not been home in a long while. It is possible my brother has managed to escape. I… apologize."

"Rogers, try the door." Fury barks, obviously fed up with Loki and his games.

"No! Do not touch-"

Thor is cut off as Steve is thrown back by a blast of green magic. He lands with an "oomf," on the floor, but is completely unharmed.

"What the hell was that?" Clint turned to Thor this time, while Natasha helped the super soldier stand.

"Loki's instructions; we cannot leave until we view the film." He turns to face Tony, who has been unusually quiet, "I am sorry, Man of Iron, but it seems we have no choice."

"I hate magic," He grumbles, rolling his eyes and sinking back into his chair.

The next thing they know, they've all pulled their chairs around the monitor in the conference room. Everyone is a bit anxious to watch the film, except Tony, who is sitting with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks completely annoyed, which he is, but on the inside there's nothing but panic. Judging by the cover, he has somewhat of an idea of what this movie might be about, and he is not happy about it at all.

"Everyone ready?" Clint asks as he slips the DVD in. When everyone nods, except Tony who is still sulking, he presses play. "Dirt on Stark," he smirks, "This is going to be so good."

"Just shut up and let's get this over with, Barton." Tony is definitely not looking forward to this.


	2. Chapter 2: Back in Black

**A/N: Hello again~ I know I said I wasn't going to start posting regularly for this story yet, but I've already gotten so many positive comments, and the story has barely even started. I guess this is like a thank you? Yeah, we'll go with that. I think I've gone soft; I feel like I owe you guys chapters for how nice you're being to me. Anyways, please enjoy and I would really appreciate feedback on this chapter, and the others to come, since this is where the story** ** _truly_** **begins.**

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 **When the screen comes to life, there's a wide view of military vehicles driving down a dirt road in a desert area. AC/DC's 'Back in Black' can be heard, and the words 'Kunar Province, Afghanistan' appear on the bottom of the screen.**

"Good song; didn't take Loki for a rock n' roll kind of guy," Tony jokes, and Clint snorts in agreement. They share a fist pump, but Natasha can't help but notice that the billionaire's hand is trembling.

 **The shot changes again to show a radio on the floor of one of the vehicles, the source of the music, then shifts to someone holding a glass of scotch.**

"Ten bucks says it's Stark." Clint calls, and gets a round of shushing from the rest of the group. He sinks back into his seats and sulks, "Fine, take all the fun out of it."

 **The camera moves up to reveal Tony Stark, dressed in a suit and sun glasses, getting awkward glances from the soldiers in the vehicle. Trying to relieve the tension and break the silence, he begins to speak.**

 **"I feel like you're driving me to a court martial. This is crazy. What did I do?"**

 **There are more awkward glances from the soldiers but no one says anything, so he continues.**

 **"I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff me. What, you're not allowed to talk?" Tony turns to look at the soldier next to him, who has been trying very hard not to make eye contact with the intimidating billionaire, "Hey, Forrest!"**

Steve rolls his eyes and looks at Tony, who is staring at the screen with an unreadable expression.

"You shouldn't talk to soldiers like that. It's disrespectful."

"Someone needs to see Forrest Gump." Tony retorts, probably a little more boorish than he intended, but Steve doesn't say anything.

 **"We can talk, Sir."**

 **"Oh, I see. So it's personal?" He looks away from the nervous soldier in mock offence, until the soldier driving the vehicle answers.**

 **"No, you intimidate them."**

"Yet another female warrior!" Thor's voice is quieter than usual, as if talking to himself, but it's still too loud to be an indoor voice. The second part of his remark is spoken in his usual boisterous tone, "I would love to meet her one day!"

Tony looks away, rubbing his hand down his face before turning back to the screen, his stomach churning uncomfortably knowing why that will never happen. If guilt were a truck, it would have run him over 10 times over, before finally settling on just parking on top of him.

 **"Good god, you're a woman. I honestly… I couldn't have called that. I mean I'd apologize but isn't that what we're going for here?" This earns him a smile from the soldier next to him and he continues, "I thought of you as a soldier first."**

 **"I'm an airman." She corrects him.**

 **"You have, actually, excellent bone structure there. I'm kind of having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird?" This earns him an honest laugh from all the passengers.**

All the Avengers share a little snicker, too, even Fury.

Except for Steve.

"Would it kill you to show some respect? If you had talked to Peggy like that, even in my day, she'd have kicked your ass into next week," Steve snaps, glaring at his team mate, who just shrugs away from him a bit, shifting uncomfortably before pulling on his snarky mask.

"No, she wouldn't have."

"What do you mean she wouldn't have? How the hell would you know?"

"Aunt Peggy wouldn't have done that to me. That's all; no need to get your Captain America spandex in a twist."

"… Aunt Peggy?" Steve stares at the brunette, not even caring how ridiculous he must look with his jaw dropped open.

"Um, yes? Now can we just get this over with? We can have your dumb chick flick moment later." Tony grumbles, waving a dismissive hand to signal he's done talking about it.

Steve's jaw is set and his shoulders squared, but eventually he gives a reluctant nod, sinking back into his chair with a sigh.

 **"Come on, it's okay, laugh!"**

 **The soldier in the passenger seat turns around, "Sir, I have a question to ask."**

 **"Yes, please."**

 **"Is it true you went 12 for 12 with last year's maximum cover models?"**

 **"That is an excellent question. Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins. Anything else?"**

 **The soldier next to him raises his hand a bit hesitantly, earning him a look from the billionaire.**

 **"You're kidding me with the hand up, right?"**

"He's just nervous, Tony. Give him a damn break." Steve comments again.

"Relax, Steve, he was just trying to lighten the mood." Bruce holds up his hands in a placating gesture that leaves the super soldier slumped back into his seat. Tony gives him a thankful smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

 **"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?" He asks, hand still slightly risen.**

 **"Yes. It's very cool." Tony responds and the young soldier smiles, pulling out a camera and handing it to the one in the passenger seat.**

"That was nice of you," Bruce gives a genuine but small smile at the genius.

"What? I can be _nice_ … on occasion." He grins back, accompanied by a shrug of his shoulders.

 **They scoot closer together and Tony adds, "I don't want to see this on your MySpace page."**

"Hah, MySpace!" Clint snickers, earning him a confused gaze from Rogers. "Oh, uh, it's just this thing. Nevermind."

 **The soldier smiles and holds his hand up in a peace sign, "Please, no gang signs," He brings his hand down and the billionaire looks over at him, "No throw it up, I'm kidding. Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace."**

"Really?" Natasha is the one who looks at him this time, rolling her eyes and turning back to the screen.

 **The soldier in the passenger seat seems to be struggling with the camera.**

 **"Come on, hurry up," The one posing with Tony says, "Just click it. Don't change any settings."**

 **Suddenly the vehicle in front explodes, causing everyone to jump.**

When the explosion hits, all of the Avengers jump with them, even the spies who are supposed to be cool and collected and trained for those type of things.

"Jesus!," Steve whispers to himself, staring at the screen and trying collect himself from the jump scare, all while trying to figure out what's going on.

Tony is visibly shaking now, and it's obvious his snarky mask is having a hard time staying put.

 **"Contact left!" The driver shouts as pieces of the exploded vehicle land on the hood of their own. "Contact left!"**

 **"What's going on? What have we got?! " The look on Stark's face is pure panic, but the soldiers ignore his question. The female soldier steps out and is immediately shot down.**

Thor flinches, and Tony is holding his face in his hands, staring up at the screen between his fingers.

 **The passenger grabs his weapon and yells into the back, "Jimmy, stay with Stark!"**

 **The soldier complies, yelling to the horrified billionaire, "Stay down!"**

 **"Yeah…" Tony gasps, his eyes wide with fear as he sinks further to the floor.**

 **The other soldier is out of the car now, setting up his gun on the hood of the vehicle when he is also shot, cracking the front windshield and splattering it with blood.**

It's Tony who flinches this time, on and off screen, the others slightly jumping again.

 **"Son of a bitch!" Jimmy readies his weapon now and gets out, closing the door.**

 **"Wait, wait, wait! Give me a gun!"**

 **"Stay here!" Jimmy shouts back through the glass window. When he turns around, there's an explosion, killing the soldier instantly and piercing holes into the side of the vehicle, allowing rays of light to stream in. There's a ringing sound as Tony looks around contemplating his options. Finally, he opens the door and stumbles out of the vehicle.**

"No! What are you doing!? They told you to stay, you fucking idiot!" Clint half shouts at the screen and half shouts at the Tony sitting next to him, and the movie pauses on its own.

"What was I supposed to do?! In case you haven't noticed I was freaking out!" Tony snaps back, and Clint shuts up when he sees the genius trembling, turning his attention back to the screen. It continues playing when they've stopped talking, just like Loki said it would.

 **Tony's running away, explosions happening all around him. He dives behind a rock for cover and pulls out his phone to send a message when a bomb lands next to him. He looks over, only to see the words 'Stark Industries' written on the side.**

"Get out of there!" Steve screams at the screen, slightly surprised at himself for the outburst.

 **Tony's eyes go wide as he struggles to stand up and back away, but the rock he took cover behind is in his way and it's too late. The bomb goes off and he's sent flying backwards into the sand.**

 **He's sprawled on his back, the ringing having returned. His eyes are scanning the area around him all while trying desperately to stay open. He grunts in pain and tilts his head up to look at his chest; crimson red is bleeding through his dress shirt. He rips it open to reveal a bullet proof vest, the blood seeping through. There's a pained gasp and the screen fades to white.**

Tony is pale and his body is shaking. He has one hand brought up to the reactor, fingers drumming nervously against the soft glow. All eyes are on him now, wide and horrified.

"If you weren't sitting right here, I'd think we just watched you die." Bruce says, and the movie pauses itself.

"Is that why you have the…" Steve speaks up, swallowing hard instead of finishing his sentence, making a gesture towards the billionaire's chest instead, but upon seeing his face, he stops.

Tony doesn't even look at him, just keeps drumming his fingers over his chest.

"Are you okay?" Banner scoots a little closer to his friend, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder for any comfort he can provide. Tony gives a nod and clears his throat.

"I'm fine. Can we please just… get this over with?" He forces himself to stop the nervous tapping for the time being, pulling on the best mask he can manage at the moment, "This is fucking bullshit."

They all turn their attention back to the screen.

 **There are voices in the background speaking in different languages, the white screen slowly fading to some kind of cloth. The view changes and a bag is ripped off of Tony's head. There are cuts on his face, dry blood smeared around them. A group of men are standing behind him with weapons, and he has to blink a few times as his eyes adjust to the light and his ears register the voices around him. He turns his head to get a better view, and his face is one of complete panic once again. There is a brief shot of someone holding a camera and filming him, before the focus returns to Tony and pans out. His chest is bandaged and there is blood seeping through. He's tied to a chair and the men surrounding him are holding their guns to his head, while one is reading a sheet of paper and speaking a different language.**

 **The scene cuts out and turns black, the words 'IRON MAN' appearing in big gold letters.**

"You were…" Steve struggles with his words for the second time, his face full of nothing but shock, "You were a hostage?"

Natasha looks away from the screen at this, her eyes something fierce, " _Seriously?_ You're the leader of this team and you didn't even bother to read his file? I thought reading files was your _hobby."_

"Well, I did a little, I just…" Steve starts, but Tony cuts him off.

"It's okay, Natasha. I delete most of the stuff SHIELD has in their files about me." Fury shoots him a disapproving glare, which he pointedly chooses to ignore. "We were thrown into this… team thing… kind of fast. He probably just never got around to it. It's fine. SHIELD probably just gave him an edited version before the Chitauri invasion; I doubt there were any juicy, sappy back story details. No harm; honestly would have preferred he never found out. Actually, I'm really hating Loki right now. How did he even get this? It wasn't filmed, I'm pretty sure I would have noticed a bunch of cameras, so what the fuc-"

"Tony, you're rambling." Bruce stops him before he can say anything else, "I know this is probably hard for you to watch, and believe me when I say it's not exactly easy for us either, but I don't think Loki was kidding when he said we couldn't leave until we finish it."

Tony just looks at him for a minute, before giving a reluctant nod and turning back to the monitor.


	3. Chapter 3: American Patriot

**A/N: Hello~ I promised another chapter for tonight, so here it is. You are very welcome. Seriously, though, thanks for reading. Also, for those of you following my other story, 'Loki Returns,' I'm working on the next chapter tonight, and I'm hoping to post it tomorrow, so don't worry. Please enjoy and feel free to comment. -AirBrushed**

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 **"Tony Stark." The screen cuts from black to the view of a stage, a picture of Tony on both sides and banners hanging from the ceiling that say 'Apogee Award.' Words appear on the bottom of the screen now in white font, reading 'Las Vegas, 36 Hours Earlier.'**

"Apogee Award, huh?" Bruce raises an eyebrow and gives a faint smile to the billionaire, who just shrugs in response, though he looks a little more relaxed than before.

 **"Visionary, genius." The pictures of Stark change into one of him on a magazine cover, arms folded across his chest. The camera focuses on one of them and the voice from the video continues talking, "American Patriot."**

"Psh, yeah right." Steve snorts, earning a glare from Banner.

 **The picture is now black and white, and shows Tony as a child, "Even from an early age, son of the legendary weapons developer Howard Stark quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind."**

The pictures switches to one of Howard, Steve leans a bit closer, shoulders tensing, "He made more than just weapons… right?"

His questions goes unanswered, the other's feeling it's not their place to respond, and Tony not wanting to discuss his father at the moment. Or ever, for that matter.

 **"At age four, he built his first circuit board."**

"Four? What'd they do, get you hook on genius juice?" Clint does nothing to try and hide the amazement on his face, even through his shitty attempt at a joke.

"Possibly. Or maybe I'm just… I don't know… a _genius_?"

 **"At age six, his first engine. And at seventeen, he graduated summa cum laude from MIT."**

"Seventeen?!" Steve and Clint question in unison.

"Yes! I get it, okay? You're all amazed at my brilliance." While that earns him a few eye rolls, no one comments.

 **"Then, the passing of a titan," The picture changes to one of Howard in a news paper article titled ' _Howard and Maria Stark Die in Car Accident on Long Island._ ' Below it, the subtitle reads, ' _Thousands to Attend Funeral in Manhattan for Founder and President of Stark Industries,_ ' accompanied by a picture a casket draped in an American flag, being carried by a group of soldiers.**

Steve bites his lip, his shoulders tensing again.

 **"Howard Starks lifelong friend and ally, Obadiah Stane, steps in to fill the gap left in by the legendary founder, until at age 21, the prodigal son returns, and is anointed the CEO of Stark Industries." A few more pictures pass by before the screen shows one of Tony with Stane behind him, looking over his shoulder.**

"Stark without his beard- never thought I'd see the day." Clint snickers, but quickly shuts up when Natasha whacks him on the head, "Ow!"

"Watch."

 **The crowd applauds and the voice continues speaking, "With the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his father's legacy, creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industry, by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe." The video ends and the podium on stage now has a spotlight shining on it, revealing a man in uniform.**

 **"As liaison to Stark Industries," He begins, "I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot. He is my friend, and he is my great mentor."**

Tony chuckles as he watches his friend on screen, realizing he never got to hear the speech in person. "Ah, good old Rhodey."

 **"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee award to Mr. Tony Stark." There's another round of applause, and award music begins playing. When no one walks up, Rhodey speaks in to the mic, "Tony?"**

"Let me guess; you didn't show up." Steve looks at the billionaire who is wearing his usual smirk.

"Nope."

 **The Colonel looks into the audience for his friend when he spots the man identified as Obadiah Stane, who shakes his (very bald) head. He stands from his seat and makes his way up to podium, accepting the award on the billionaire's behalf.**

 **"Thank you, Colonel."**

 **"Thanks for the save." He replies, and steps aside as the older, white bearded man begins to speak into the microphone.**

 **"This is beautiful. Thank you. Thank you all very much. This is wonderful." He holds it up and stares at it for a moment before continuing, "Well, I'm not Tony Stark."**

 **The crowd laughs a bit before he keeps talking, "But if I were Tony, I would tell you how honored I feel and what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award. Tony, you know… the best thing about Tony is also the worst thing; He's always working."**

Bruce smirks, "Well he's not wrong."

 **The scene changes to Tony in the casino, surrounded by women. He rolls his dice and everyone cheers as he turns around giving a bow to Happy and chanting, "Work it! Come on!"**

"Or maybe he is." Fury, who has been oddly silent for quite a while, speaks up.

"Ugh," Tony gives an annoyed grunt at the view of himself onscreen and face palms.

 **A woman has her hands all over him as Rhodey approaches from behind, just as Tony is saying something to her, his voice low and barely audible, "We should just stay till the morning."**

 **"You are unbelievable," He cuts in, obviously annoyed.**

 **Tony turns to his friend and the woman backs off. "Oh, no! Did they rope you into this?"**

 **"Nobody roped me into anything!" Rhodey replies, shaking his head.**

 **"I'm so sorry."**

 **Rhodey just ignores him and continues, "But they told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored."**

 **"Of course I'd be deeply honored! And it's you, that's great. So when do we do it?" Tony interjects.**

 **"It's right here; here you go." He holds up the award and Tony takes it, obviously disinterested.**

 **"There it is; that was easy." At the irritated look from Rhodey he adds, "I'm so sorry."**

 **"Yeah, it's okay."**

"No it's not," Natasha sneers, amusement in her tone.

 **"Wow, would you look at that," The genius turns away from his friend and hands the award off to woman from before, "That's something else. I don't have any of those floating around." He bends over and gathers the dice in his hand, "We're gonna let it ride!" He holds the dice up to the woman, "Give me a hand will you? Give me a little something-something." She blows on the dice before Tony brings it toward Rhodey next, "Okay, you too."**

 **"I don't blow on a man's dice."**

 **"Come on, Honey Bear!"**

 **"I don't blow on a man's dice," Rhodey repeats, shaking his head and swatting Tony's hand away, causing the dice to fly out and roll on the table.**

 **"There it is! Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes rolls! And…"**

 **The roll is bad and Rhodey shrugs, to which Tony just says, "Two craps, line away."**

 **"That's what happens."**

 **"Worse things have happened; I think we're going to be fine. Color me up, William."**

 **"You really are unbelievable, aren't you?" Steve scoffs just as the screen changes to Tony and Colonel Rhodes shaking hands.**

 **"This is where I exit. Tomorrow, don't be late!" Rhodey says, pointing to his friend.**

 **"Yeah, you can count on it."**

 **"I'm serious!"**

 **"I know I know!" Tony points back as Rhodey walks away, holding up his award, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's!" He hands the award to a man dressed in costume, "There you go."**

"Really? You just hand out an award like that?" Natasha eyes him but he doesn't say anything.

 **The scene changes and Happy is opening a car door for Tony, who stops short when his name is yelled.**

 **"Mr. Stark! Excuse me, Mr. Stark!" An attractive young blonde starts walking up to him but is stops by one of Tony's guards. "Christine Everheart, Vanity Fair Magazine. Can I ask you a couple of questions?"**

 **"She's cute," Happy mumbles next to Tony.**

 **"She's alright?" He spins to face her, "Hi."**

 **"Hi. It's okay?"**

 **"Yeah, okay, go." He steps closer and she holds a voice recorder up to him.**

 **"You've been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?"**

 **"Absolutely ridiculous, I don't paint." He deadpans, and she immediately continues with a follow up question.**

 **"And what do you say to your other nickname? The Merchant of Death." She raises an eyebrow, her jaw set.**

Tony gives another groan and leans over, his face in his hands.

 **"That's not bad. Let me guess, Berkeley?"**

 **"Brown, actually." She corrects him.**

 **"Well, Ms. Brown. It's an imperfect world but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you, the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."**

 **"Rehearse that much?" She raises her eyebrow again, obviously not convinced.**

 **"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime."**

 **"I can see that."**

 **"I'd like to show you first-hand."**

 **"All I want is a serious answer."**

 **"Alright, here's serious. My old man had a philosophy, 'Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy.'"**

"Seriously?" Steve looks to Tony, who only replies with a nod.

 **"That's a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks." She retorts.**

 **"My father helped defeat the Nazi's. He worked on the Manhattan project. A lot of people, including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero."**

 **"And a lot of people would also call that war profiteering."**

 **"Tell me," He leans a little closer to the voice recorder, "do you plan to report on the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology, or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs, military funding, honey."**

 **"You ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life?"**

 **He shrugs, "I'd be prepared to lose a few with you."**

 **The scene immediately changes and the two are falling onto a bed together, Christine on top with much less clothes than before, until Tony rolls them over and they fall of the bed with a laugh.**

"Okay, I really did not need to see that." Clint makes a gagging noise and Tony gives a laugh, not at all embarrassed.

"Sorry, Katniss. I'll explain when you're older."

 **The next thing we see is the reporter lying nude on the bed, asleep beneath the white sheets.**

 ** _"Good morning,"_ The familiar British voice can be heard and the woman snaps her eyes open with a startled gasp, _"It's 7:00 AM; the weather in Malibu is 72 degrees with scattered clouds. The surf conditions are fair with waist to shoulder high lines."_ The windows light up as Christine stands from the bed, moving to look out the window. The view zooms out over the AI's voice to reveal Tony's Malibu home and the ocean around it. _"High tide will be at 10:52 AM."_**

 _"That's_ your _house?"_ Clint speaks for everyone as they stare in amazement at the screen, except Natasha and Fury who have been there before.

"Yup."

 **The interior of the house is shown, where Christine is wearing Tony's dress shirt from the night before, and her panties.**

 **"Tony? Hey, Tony?"**

"So uh, if you die or something, can we have your house?"

"It's left to Potts. Sorry bird brain."

 **The blonde wanders around a bit, taking in her surroundings before she comes to a blue panel on the wall. She hesitates for a minute, but curiosity wins and she reaches for it. Immediately there is a beeping noise, and the panel blinks red before the AI speaks up again, _"You are not authorized to access this area."_**

 **"Jesus!" She recoils, reeling around when another voice is heard, though this one is familiar.**

 **"That's JARVIS. He runs the house." A strawberry blonde appears, dressed in professional dress clothes and holding clothes on a hanger. "I've got your clothes here. They've been dry-cleaned and pressed, and there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go."**

 **The blonde strides up to her with a grin, "You must be the famous Pepper Potts."**

 **"Indeed I am."**

"Oh boy, here we go." Natasha smirks and everyone leans a little closer to the screen.

 **"After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry-cleaning."**

 **Pepper hesitates for a moment, and if she's taken aback by the rude comment she does a pretty good job at hiding it. "I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires," She gives a fake smile and a nod, "Including, occasionally, taking out the trash. Will that be all?"**

The team doesn't even try to hide their laughter.

"Do _not_ cross Pepper Potts. That woman is a force to reckoned with." Tony smirks, and they all turn their attention back to the screen.

 **The shot changes to Tony working in his shop, music blasting in the background.**

 **"Give me an exploded view," He glances at a monitor off to the side showing the engine he is currently working on.**

 ** _"The compression in cylinder three appears to be low."_**

 **"Log that."**

 **In the background, Pepper is typing in the access code to his workshop. When she enters, the music lowers and she can be heard talking on the phone, "I'm gonna try again, right now."**

 **"Please don't turn down my music," Tony doesn't even look up from his task as he says this.**

 **"I'll keep you posted." She ignores him and hangs up the phone before addressing him, "You are supposed to be half way around the world right now."**

 **"How'd she take it?"**

 **"Like a champ."**

 **He's studying a piece of the engine when he asks, "Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?"**

 **The view widens to reveal Tony kneeling on the floor in front of the car he's working on when Pepper continues, "Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."**

 **"That's funny, I though with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there."**

 **"Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you out of the door."**

 **He ignores her and moves to sit on the wheel of the car, "Doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"**

"He's got a point." Clint shrugs, and Natasha flicks the back of his head.

 **"Larry called. He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it, yes or no?"**

 **"Is it a good representation of his spring period?"**

 **"No. The springs was actually the neighborhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked- not spring like the season."**

 **"So?"**

 **"I think it's a fair example. I think it's incredibly over-priced."**

 **"I need it. Buy it. Store it." He stands and walks past her, where she quickly follows behind.**

 **"Okay. The MIT commencement speech-"**

 **"Is in June," He cuts her off, "Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way down..."**

 **"They're haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes."**

 **"Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me."**

 **"I need you to sign this before you get on the plane," she shuffles through some papers and opens a folder, handing him a pen.**

 **"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"**

 **"As a matter of fact, I do."**

 **"I don't like it when you have plans."**

 **She shakes her head, "I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."**

 **"It's your birthday?"**

'Of course you forgot." Clint snickers and Steve rolls his eyes.

 **"Yes."**

 **"I knew that. Already?"**

 **She gives him a genuine smile before she responds, "Yeah. Isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year."**

 **"Get yourself something nice from me." His voice is gentle and he smiles back, taking the pen.**

 **"I already did."**

 **"And?"**

 **"Oh, it was very nice."**

 **"Yeah?"**

 **"Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."**

 **"You're welcome, Miss. Potts." He gives her a genuine smile, and she returns it.**

"Awe!"

"Shut up Bird Brain."

 **Pepper hands him a cup and he drinks its' contents before handing it back to her with an, "Okay."**

 **The next shot is of a white sports car speeding down the road, a black car not far behind. They both pull into a parking lot, where Stark Industries is written on almost everything. There's a plane waiting and Rhodey is standing at the top of the stairs. Tony steps out of the white car and Happy out of the black one.**

 **"You're good! I thought I lost you back there!" Tony shouts to Happy who is walking around to the back of his car.**

 **"You did Sir. I had to cut across Mulholland." He replies as he grabs a few bags out the trunk.**

 **"I got you. I got you."**

"You were racing?" Steve questions, though he already knows the answer.

 **They're walking up to the plane and a very annoyed looking Rhodey.**

 **"What's wrong with you?" He shouts as Tony makes his way up the steps.**

 **"What?"**

 **"Three hours."**

 **"I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair." Tony replies, trying to sound innocent.**

 **"For three hours. For three hours, you got me standing here."**

 **"Waiting on you now." He says, stepping into the plane with Happy behind him, "Let's go. Come on." When Rhodey steps in, Tony can be heard from inside, "wheels up! Rock N Roll!"**

"Three hours?" Steve gives a disapproving look to Tony.

"Oh don't act so surprised, Rogers. Even now I'm never on time."

 **There is a brief shot of the Stark Industries plane before it reveals the interior, where Rhodey and Tony are sitting across from one another. A flight attendant lays down a pair of forks before walking off. Tony gives her a quick glance then turns back to Rhodey.**

 **"What you reading, Platypus?"**

 **The Colonel doesn't even look up from his newspaper, "Nothing."**

 **"Come on sour patch, don't be mad."**

 **"I told you I'm not mad. I'm indifferent, okay?"**

 **"I said I was sorry." The billionaire says, just as another flight attendant approaches.**

 **"Good morning, Mr. Stark," She smiles at him.**

 **"You don't need to apologize to me, I'm your man," Rhodey continues.**

 **"Hi, I told him I was sorry, but he…" He looks up at the woman now, who seems to be ignoring the men's bickering.**

 **"Hot towel?"**

 **"I'm just indifferent right now. You don't respect yourself, so I know you don't respect me." The Colonel continues talking despite the woman's presence.**

 **"I respect you-"**

 **"I'm just your babysitter, so when you need your diaper changed… thank you," He glances at the flight attendant who handed him a towel, "Let me know, and I'll get you a bottle, okay?"**

 **Tony doesn't even seem to acknowledge the statement. "Hey! Heat up a sake, will you? Thanks for reminding me."**

"Sake? I do not understand…" Thor gives Natasha a puzzled look.

"A Japanese rice wine."

 **"No, I'm not talking… we're not drinking! We're working right now." Rhodey protests, but Tony isn't having it.**

 **"You can't have sashimi without sake!"**

 **"You are constitutionally incapable of being responsible."**

 **"It would be irresponsible not to drink. I'm just talking about a nightcap." The genius explains as the woman reappears.**

 **"Hot sake?"**

 **"Yes, two, please." Tony answers before his friend can refuse.**

 **"No, I'm not drinking. I don't want any."**

 **The next second there's music playing and Tony and Rhodes can be seen sitting on the couch with their drinks. Rhodey has his arm on Tony's shoulder and starts rambling on about something the billionaire is showing no interest in.**

 **"That's what I'm talking about. When I get up in the morning, and I put on my uniform, you know what I recognize. I see in that mirror that every person that's got this uniform on got my back!"**

"I have yet to meet another mortal who can hold his alcoholic beverages as well as you, friend Anthony!" The Asgardian gives him a beams at him, him voice bouncing off the walls of the conference room.

"What can I say? Runs in the family, big guy."

At that, Steve is clearly taken aback a bit, but decides against adding his two cents.

 **Tony sits up a bit before replying to his intoxicated friend, "Hey, you know what? I'm not like you, I'm not cut out-"**

 **"No, no! You don't have to be like me! But you're more than what you are!" Rhodey cuts him off.**

 **The genius gets comfortable and gestures to the flight attendants who are now visible and dancing, their shirts rolled up and drinks in their hands, "Can you excuse me if I'm a bit distracted here?"**

 **"No! You can't be distracted right now, listen to me!"**

"Hey Stark, wanna take a trip to Japan, or something? You know, somewhere with a long flig- OW!" The archer snaps his head around to give the assassin the stink eye. "Could you stop hitting me?!"

"Sure. Just stop giving me reasons to hit you." She grins and flicks his forehead.

 **The words 'Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan' appear on the screen, showing a brief view of the base and the soldiers there. The Stark Industries plane has landed and Tony is coming down the steps, buttoning his suit before walking up to the line of men in uniform.**

 **"General," He holds out his hand and they shake.**

 **"Welcome, Mr. Stark. We look forward to your weapons presentation." He clasps his hands behind his back and gives the genius a nod.**

 **"Thanks," He turns to the man next to the general and shakes his hand as well, saying something in what must be his native language.**

 **Tony is standing in his suit and sunglasses, a view of mountains in the background, "Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?"**

Tony groans and slumps back in his seat, eyeing the man he once was on the screen with disgust.

 **"With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries ' Freedom Line," He puts his hands in his pockets and continues, "It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. _They_ say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how dad did it. That's how America does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far." The view is further out now, revealing a wider shot of the mountains, the soldiers present, and the missile in question. The billionaire gestures to the weapon, "Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves."**

 **He makes a motion with his hand and there's a close up on the weapon. The soldiers turn their attention towards it once it angles upwards, one of the missiles firing up and shooting into the air. The camera follows it and it breaks off into a number of smaller missiles, which begin flying towards the mountain in the background.**

 **Suddenly the shot is back on Tony, just as the missiles make contact with the landscape, "For your consideration," He raises his arms as a huge explosion sends clouds of dust into the air, "The Jericho." The blast pushes forward, almost causing the billionaire to lose his balance, and blows the hats off of the soldiers.**

There's a low whistle and everyone turns to look at Fury.

"I guess we should be glad you're on our side, Stark." The Director glares at the billionaire with uneasy eyes.

"I'm done making weapons, _Nick._ You know that." He snaps back, causing the other man to loosen his glare and turn his attention back to the screen.

"So… you made that missile? That's… horrible." Steve's voice is hesitant, knowing that's the exact reason the billionaire no longer makes the weapons.

"Yeah." The reply is quiet, barely audible, unless you're a super soldier with enhanced hearing. Steve risks a glance at Tony's face; heavyhearted and full of grief.

 **A crate is opening now, cool air escaping as a shelf of alcoholic beverages rises up. Tony takes what appears to be scotch, "I'll be throwing one of these in with every purchase of 500 million or more; to peace!" He raises his glass and takes a sip just as his phone begins to buzz. He takes it out of his pocket and flips it open, revealing the bald man from the award ceremony.**

 **"Tony!"**

 **"Obie, what are you doing up?"**

 **"I couldn't sleep until I found out how it went. How'd it go?" The man on the screen replies.**

 **"It went great. Looks like it's going to be an early Christmas."**

 **"Hey! Way to go, my boy! I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"**

 **"Why aren't you wearing those pajamas I got you?"**

 **"Goodnight, Tony."**

"…That son of a bitch!" Tony looks shocked if not slightly pissed off, obviously having realized something no one else did.

"What?" Bruce raises an eyebrow, but the genius just shakes his head.

"Nothing. It… I think you'll find out."

 **The billionaire climbs into the vehicle from before, a soldier shutting the door for him just as Colonel Rhodes walks up.**

 **"Hey, Tony."**

 **"I'm sorry; this is the Fun-Vee." He leans his head out the window and looks behind him, "The Hum-Drum-Vee is back there."**

 **"Nice job." He ignores the comment and taps the door of the vehicle.**

 **"See you back at base."**

 **'Back in Black' can be heard again, and the view of the cars driving down the road is back on the screen before the lead vehicle blows up.**


	4. Chapter 4: One Crazy Son of a Bitch

**A very pained looking Tony Stark flashes on the screen, being held down. There's a brief view of cheap medical supplies, if they could even be called that, before it changes to one of the genius again; a hole carved in his chest and blood littering his torso. He's being held down as he lets out a chilling, anguished scream, the 'operation' continuing despite his obvious pain.**

"What's going on?!" Steve all but yells, his face horrified, but he never takes his eyes off the monitor.

 **Something is being lowered into the void of Tony's chest by a pair of gloved hands, before a cloth is held over the genius's face and he falls unconscious.**

The movie pauses when Bruce starts to talk, though no one is looking at him. Every eye is on Tony, their faces revealing nothing but shock.

"You... you got the arc reactor in a cave? Those weren't… they didn't even have the proper medical supplies! You were _awake!_ " The Doctor's eyes are flashing green, and he takes a deep breath when he gets weary looks from everyone in the room.

"That wasn't the arc reactor. It was just temporary; a piece of junk, but it did the job." The genius deadpans, though his voice is shaky and hoarse. He refuses to make eye contact with any of his team mates.

"That must have hurt like hell, man. What the fuck!" Clint actually looks angry, that being the only way to describe his tone.

"That was never in your report." Fury stares down the billionaire, his arms crossed over his torso and his one eye fierce.

"Why? Didn't make any difference; I assumed you people could at least make an educated guess, seeing as I didn't have a hunk of metal in my chest _before_ I left."

No one responds, and the movie starts to play again.

 **The camera is zooming in on an unconscious Tony Stark. Moments later, there's a distant scream and his eyes snap open. He shivers, letting out a shuddering breath that's visible in the cool air. Coughing, he brings his hand up to his nose, pulling out a breathing tube that seems to be infinite in length. The sound of it being pulled out can be heard, and he tries his best to suppress a gag, before finally ripping it off his nose, along with the tape that once held it in place.**

"That was…most disturbing…" The Asgardian makes a face, and there are a few nods of agreement around the room, except from Bruce.

 **When he turns his head, his breath is perceptible, revealing just how cold it is. His eyes are set on a glass of water, and he reaches for it, only to succeed in knocking it the ground. He has a short coughing fit, clenching his shivering hands and glancing at a man shaving his face in front of a cracked, rusty mirror, humming to himself. Tony ignores him for now, and turns back to his task. He rolls over a bit to further his reach for the second bottle of water, but stops short when there's a painful tug on his chest.**

 **"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man who's shaving in the mirror says.**

 **Without answering, Tony slowly turns to look back over his shoulder, revealing a car battery with wires connected to it. He grips the cables in his trembling hand and traces their path all the way to his torso. He releases a painful grunt when it tugs beneath the bandages, tapping on it a bit before he starts to rip off the white gauze. His breathing is getting heavier and heavier as he continues to tear away the bandage to reveal what the wires are connected to. Sitting in his chest is a rusty electromagnet, cables attached to the battery beside him, dry blood and scar tissue visible on the surrounding skin. His eyes go wide with fear as he struggles to keep his breathing steady.**

"They had you hooked up to a car battery!? Did you see all the rust on that thing?! That _alone_ could have killed you!" Banner's eyes are dangerously green now, and the others are sure that if their eyes could turn green when they were angry, theirs' would be too.

"Brucie, you need to calm down. I'm fine, I fixed it." He gives a reassuring tap on the arc reactor in his chest, but when it doesn't seem to work, he lets out an exasperated sigh and hesitantly lifts his shirt. "No rust, see?"

Though the action seems to calm the doctor enough to keep him from Hulking out, the others faces are still nothing short of horrified at the sight of the scar tissue surrounding the gentle blue glow. It seems so out of place; the mangled skin contrasting with the beauty of the light. Obviously uncomfortable, the genius drops his shirt back down. There's a couple of reasons why very few people have seen his arc reactor up close, that being one of them.

 **The man from before is whistling and stirring food in a pan over a small fire, the camera slowly panning up to reveal Tony sitting on a cot, a broken mirror held in front of his chest. He's looking at it almost with disgust.**

 **"What the hell did you do to me?"**

 **There is a better view of the man now. He has glasses and a bit of gray stubble, and though he's mostly bald, there's still a thin bit of hair around the back of his head. He glances at the billionaire then back to his cooking before responding.**

 **"What I did? What I did is to save your life." The view changes to looking into the mirror and at the device imbedded in the brunette's chest as he continues talking, "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left, and it's headed into your atrial septum. "**

A few of the Avengers give Bruce a questioning look, so he elaborates, "In simplest terms, his heart."

"So the reactor is basically just powering a magnet that keeps bits of shrapnel from tearing your heart to pieces?" Natasha raises an eyebrow, and even though Tony is like 96% sure that she already knows this, he nods anyways.

 **"Here, want to see?" The man holds up a glass bottle, jingling its contents, "I have a souvenir. Take a look." He tosses the bottle to Tony, who catches it and raises it to his face for a better look. He holds it up to the limited bit of light, the pieces of sharp metal rolling in the glass. "I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead, because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs."**

 **The billionaire speaks up, obviously not in the mood for small talk, "What is this?"**

 **"That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery, and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart. Hm?" He gives the distraught genius a weak, fake smile, before turning back to his cooking.**

 **Tony self consciously zips up his jacket, eyeing the security camera in the far corner. Upon catching his gaze, the man tries an attempt at humor.**

 **"That's right; smile. We met once, you know, at a technical conference in Bern."**

 **"I don't remember."**

 **"No, you wouldn't. If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits."**

 **"Where are we?" Tony says almost immediately, but before the man can answer there's a noise from the door. A hatch opens and a man yells into the room.**

"Ah, fuck. Here we go." Tony mumbles, running a hand through his hair.

 **"Come on, stand up. Stand up!" The man's tone is just short of a whisper as he grabs Tony's arms and helps him stand. "Just do as I do." He commands, looking Stark straight in the eye. The door begins to unlock and they stand side by side, "Come on, put your hands up."**

 **The door opens and a group of men pour into the room, all holdings weapons and aiming them at their prisoners. Tony looks at them confused before mumbling to the man next to him, "Those are my guns. How did they get my guns?"**

"They have your weapons and you don't even know how they got them?" Steve frowns at the screen and then at Tony himself.

"I think you'll find out how. I don't want to spoil anything."

 **"Do you understand me? Do as I do!" The man snaps back, and the billionaire falls silent, glaring daggers at their captors.**

 **The leader strolls in, a larger man with a dark beard, holding a rolled up piece of paper. He begins to speak a different language, and when he finishes his sentence, he nods to the man next to Tony as an indication for him to translate.**

 **"He says, 'Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America. He is honored.'"**

 **The leader continues talking, and the man translates again, "He wants you to build the missile; the Jericho missile that you demonstrated." Their captor hands them a picture, and the man next to Tony takes and holds it open for him to see, "This one."**

 **Tony looks the leader straight in the eye upon seeing the picture, "I refuse."**

"NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY!" Clint screams at the screen for the second time today, making Tony flinch and shift uncomfortably in his seat.

 **The scene changes immediately and Tony is being held underwater, thrashing and screaming for air. When he's finally pulled back up by the hair, he gasps for breath, spitting the water out of his mouth. Before he has a chance to completely catch his breath, he's shoved back under, the water reaching the cables in his chest and shocking him in the process. He's pulled up again, this time thrashing and fighting with his captors as they manhandle him and pull at his hair.**

"What the hell was that!?" This time, it's Steve who looks furious, glancing at his team mates for an explanation.

"It's called water boarding. It's supposed to simulate drowning without actually killing you." Natasha supplies with as straight a face as ever, though it's obvious in her eyes the sympathy she's feeling for the billionaire, who is worryingly silent at the moment.

 **There's a bag over Tony's head now as he's being forcibly guided through the cave and outside. When the bag is removed, he blinks a few times, adjusting his eyes to the bright sun. He's shoved forward, clutching the car battery to his chest as he stumbles behind the men. He scans his surroundings as he approaches the leader, and looks horrified when he realizes all the cases say 'Stark Industries.'**

 **The leader speaks again, and the doctor elaborates, "He wants to know what you think."**

 **The billionaire looks at his captor and speaks, his voice raspy and raw, "I think you got a lot of my weapons."**

 **"He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile," The doctor translates the reply, "He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you to start working immediately, and when you're done, he will set you free."**

 **Tony reaches out and shakes his hand, giving a fake smile, "No he won't."**

 **"No he won't," The man confirms.**

"He won't." Natasha double confirms, and shrugs when everyone turns to look at her. " _What?_ They won't."

 **In the distance, there is a brief shot of a tan, bald man, fiddling with his ring and standing on the edge of a rock, surrounded by men, overseeing the operation.**

 **The scene changes again, and the two hostages are back in the cave, huddled around a fire. Tony is staring into the flames, wearing a beanie, a pair of gloves, and a coat; the entire outfit is so different than what he normally would wear, making him appear more like a hobo than a billionaire.**

 **"I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains." The other man takes a seat next to Tony before continuing, "Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work in the hands of those murderers! Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great** ** _Tony Stark_** **? Or are you going to do something about it?"**

 **"Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week." The billionaire's voice is quiet, almost hopeless.**

 **"Well then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it?"**

 **Men are carrying weapons and supplies around the room, and the camera pans over, revealing Tony yelling orders and the man next to him translating, "If this is going to be my work station, I want it well-lit. I want these up. I need welding gear. I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station. I need helmets. I'm gonna need goggles. I would like a smelting cup. I need two sets of precision tools."**

"You're actually building it?!" Steve nearly shouts at the billionaire.

"What? No, of course not! Just watch, spangles. I'm not an idiot." Tony snaps back, but it's a little friendlier sounding than before.

 **The camera reveals a Stark Industries missile, with Tony working on the end, "How many languages do you speak?"**

 **"A lot. But apparently, not enough for this place." Tony gives a half hearted smirk and the man continues, "They speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, Russian."**

 **Tony slides something out of the missile before he responds, "Who are these people?"**

 **"They are your loyal customers, Sir. They call themselves the Ten Rings."**

 **There's a brief view of the security camera, then switches to the men holding them captive overseeing the process from TV screens, before returning back to Tony.**

 **"You know, we might be more productive if you include me in the planning process." The doctor says, sitting next to the busy billionaire.**

 **"Yuh-huh." He starts pounding on the missile with his forearm, demonstrating a considerable amount of strength, causing the end to pop off. He pulls something out, setting it on the table and picking something out of it with a pair of tweezers. "Okay, we don't need this," He grabs the hunk of metal and tosses it over his shoulder.**

 **"What is that?"**

 **Tony holds a piece of thin metal up to the light with the tweezers, "That's palladium, 0.15 grams. We need at least 1.6, so why don't you go break down the other 11?"**

 **There's a bowl of red-like-sand, the billionaire grabbing a hand full and putting it into a cup. There's a smelting cup being pulled out of the fire by the other man, Tony behind him holding the car battery over his shoulder.**

 **"Careful. Careful, we only get one shot at this." He warns.**

 **"Relax, I have steady hands. Why do you think you're still alive?"**

 **They walk over to the table, Tony setting the battery down on top of it. They lean over and the doctor starts to pour the liquid from the cup into the mold when Tony speaks up, "What do I call you?"**

 **"My name is Yinsen."**

 **"Yinsen. Nice to meet you."**

 **"Nice to meet you too."**

"Finally; a name!" Clint grins and leans back in his chair.

 **Tony is pulling a metal ring from the mold, holding it up and gently placing it into another metal disk, before the view changes and the billionaire is soldering pieces of metal and wire. The next thing we see is Tony twisting a dial, and the creation before him begins to glow a familiar blue.**

"Don't tell me you-" Bruce starts, but Tony cuts him off.

"I did."

"In a _cave?"_

"I did."

 **Yinsen approaches and leans over the table, gazing in wonder at the contraption glowing on the table. "That doesn't look like a Jericho missile."**

 **"That's because it's a miniaturized arc reactor. I got a big one powering my factory at home." He explains, tapping the table next to the reactor, "It should keep the shrapnel out of my heart."**

 **"But what could it generate?"**

 **"If my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second."**

 **"That could run your heart for 50 life times."**

 **"Yeah, or something big for 15 minutes."**

"If you're saying what I think you're saying, you are one crazy son of a bitch, Stark." Fury smirks at the genius, who can't help but grin and shrug his shoulders.

"I don't understand…" The super soldier looks between the two men, but neither supply an explanation.

 **The billionaire lays down a pile of papers, turning the light on next to them. Yinsen shuffles through some of them before setting them back down.**

 **"This is our ticket out of here," Stark says, pointing to the papers.**

 **"What is it?"**

 **"Flatten them out and look." He reaches forward and smoothes out the papers, revealing what could only be a suit of armor.**

 **"Oh, wow. Impressive."**

"Oh, nevermind." Steve chuckles and offers a smile to the billionaire, "You crazy son of a bitch."


	5. Chapter 5: Prison Break

**A/N: Sorry! I've been meaning to update. I have a research paper I've been working on for school, and this week has been full of tests and quizzes. I apologize. I know it's been like 5 or 6 days since I've updated 'Loki Returns,' but I swear I will finish writing the next chapter tomorrow and I will post it once it's finished (tomorrow.) I'm too tired to do it tonight, but please enjoy this chapter! I've tried to include more of the other Avengers reactions as well, so let me know what you think. :)**

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 **The snowy mountains are revealed, men huddled around a fire for warmth before switching to the security surveillance, where Tony is shown laying on the cot with Yinsen stood over him. A moment or two pass before the genius stands, the addition in his chest glowing with a bright, gentle, blue light, appearing larger than it actually is on the cheap cameras. He takes a few steps forward and the men share a hand shake that could almost pass for a high-five.**

 **A pair of dice is being rolled on a wooden board game, the two men gambling with silver bolts.**

 **"Good roll, good roll." Yinsen praises the billionaire, reaching for the dice to shake them in his hand for his own turn.**

 **"You still haven't told me where you're from," Tony mentions nonchalantly, lifting the lid off of a jar next to him.**

 **"I'm from a small town called Gulmira. It's actually a nice place."**

 **"Got a family?"**

 **"Yes, and I will see them when I leave here." Yinsen says, looking up from the board to face the billionaire, "And you, Stark?"**

 **The two make eye contact for a brief moment before the genius looks down, taking his turn in their game before looking back up. He shrugs and replies with a quirk of his lips, "Nah."**

 **"No? So you're a man who has everything, and nothing?"**

No one says anything at first, each throwing the billionaire a sad look, ones which he refuses to acknowledge.

"What about Lady Pepper?" Thor inquires, his features brightening in hopes of lightening the despondent mood.

"This was before Pepper and I, Point Break." Tony shrugs, twiddling his thumbs in thought.

 **The leader from the beginning walks up to the door, opening the hatch quietly and peering inside. Satisfied to see that they are working, he nods in approval and turns away.**

 **Suddenly, music can be heard over the speakers, and the camera is panning over a table full of supplies, some makeshift pieces of armor and tools forged from pieces of scrap. Some sparks can be seen flying from where Tony is using a blow torch. When he turns it off, he lifts the goggles off his face.**

 **Their captors are seen huddling over the TV's again, holding up the picture of the Jericho and arguing in a different language as they compare it to the process on the screen.**

 **"It doesn't look anything like the picture," complained one.**

 **"Maybe it's been modified," another man suggests.**

 **"The tail is wrong," The first man argues.**

 **"It's just backwards." One reasons.**

"Clueless." Fury murmurs.

 **The bald man from before is back on the screen, fiddling with his ring yet again while staring at the monitor, his face twisted in a scowl as he observes. Tony can be seen swinging his leg, now encased in metal and wires.**

"Or not," The director corrects himself, sighing and leaning back in his chair.

"Didn't you know that they could see you?" Steve frowns, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"Of course he knew," Bruce answers before Tony has the chance, "But considering all of his options, well… there weren't many. He just had to bet on them not being smart enough to figure out what he was planning." He shrugs as the soldier seems to consider this.

 **The hatch is opened again and the men come barging in. Tony shuts off his blow torch and straightens up, both him and Yinsen instinctively raising their arms above their heads.**

 **Raza, the main leader, walks in, glancing at the two men, "Relax."**

 **They hesitantly put their arms down, and the leader walks up to Tony, pulling the collar of his tattered shirt down to get a glimpse at the arc reactor. "The bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology."**

"Once? You mean _is-_ Ow- stop hitting me!" Clint glares at Natasha, buts slumps back in his seat anyways.

"He's not even going to ask what the arc reactor is?" Widow raises an eyebrow, pinching the archer's ear to keep him from interrupting her.

"I guess he just didn't see a reason to? I'm not sure; he must have just figured it was keeping me alive, and so long as I stayed alive I could build him his missile. Jokes on him." He smirked, tapping the reactor for good measure.

 **"It allowed the great Genghis Khan to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine. An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great, and four times the size of the Roman Empire." He picks up the papers revealing the armor plans, studying them for a moment.**

 **Tony gives a nervous glance to Yinsen, who makes a subtle gesture with his hand to calm down as Raza continues, "But today, whoever holds the latest Stark weapons, rules these lands. And soon, it will be my turn." He glares at the billionaire for a moment before addressing Yinsen in another language that translates to,** ** _"Why have you failed me?"_**

 ** _"We're working. Diligently."_** **Yinsen responds.**

 **"** ** _I let you live, and this is how you repay me?"_** **Raza asks, approaching the Doctor.**

 **"** ** _It's very complex. He's trying very hard."_**

 **The billionaire can be seen watching uneasily; clearly not happy that he can't understand what's going on.**

 **"** ** _On his knees!"_** **Raza orders, and a man approaches, grabbing Yinsen by the arm and forcing him to his knees. He walks over to the fire picking up the tongs and grabbing a hot coal, "** ** _You think I am a fool?"_**

 ** _"We're both working."_**

 ** _"Open your mouth,"_** **He says, holding up the burning coal.**

 **"What does he want?" Tony questions, still standing helplessly on the other side of the room.**

 **Ignoring him, Raza grabs Yinsen's head, holding the tongs in front of his mouth, "** ** _What's going on? Tell me the truth."_**

 ** _"He's building your Jericho,"_** **Yinsen pleads.**

 ** _"The truth."_**

 ** _"He's building your Jericho!"_**

 ** _"THE TRUTH!"_** **Raza raises his voice.**

 **Tony steps forward in a moment of bravery, obviously fed up with the situation, "What do you want, a delivery date?" He asks, raising his hands in a placating gesture when every gun in the room is suddenly pointed at him, followed by a series of shouting. Raza looks up at the billionaire, who hesitates for a moment before speaking, "I need him. Good assistant."**

 **Raza drops the burning coal in front of Yinsen's face, never looking away from Stark, "You have till tomorrow to assemble my missile." He threatens, tossing the tongs carelessly across the room.**

 **The music starts up again and Tony can be seen hammering a piece of metal, the glow of the arc reactor visible through his tank top. He continues pounding the metal into place, each hit making a loud 'clanging' sound. He's dirty and it's obvious he's sweating from the work and the heat of the fire nearby, but continues nonetheless.**

"Damn, Stark. You're buffer than I thought." Clint comments. When everyone turns to look at him, he shrinks further down his seat as if trying to disappear. "What?" He grumbles.

"I agree with Friend Barton! The Man of Iron appears to be quite the black smith!" Thor's voice echoes through the room, his grin spread wide across the expanse of his cheeks.

Ignoring their comments, Natasha speaks up, "You know, as much as I hate Loki, no offence Thor, this music really suits you, Stark." She smirks, giving the billionaire one of her rare smiles.

"You know, I was thinking the same thing. I've always wanted a theme song," He preened, smiling back at the assassin.

 **On screen, Tony grabs the metal with a pair of tongs, dunking it in a tub of water, where it starts to steam from the cooler temperature. When he pulls it out again, he sets it on the table in front of Yinsen, where it's finally visible as to what it is- a mask.**

"That's fucking scary as hell."

"What? Did you want me to make it smiling, Big Bird?"

 **The scene changes and Tony is taping up his hands while Yinsen is raising the chest plate in the background. He shrugs on his dirty jacket and a pair of rubber gloves. Yinsen straps a brace of some sort around his neck, and the next thing you know he's pulling the chest plate of the armor over the genius, the hole in the front fitting perfectly over the arc reactor.**

 **"Okay. Can you move?" Yinsen asks, adjusting pieces of the armor. "Okay, say it again."**

 **"41 steps straight ahead, then 16 steps, that's from the door, fork right, 33 steps, turn right."**

"You remembered all of that?" Steve grins, glancing at the genius.

"Had to."

 **Raza approaches the security monitors, leaning forward to inspect them, "** ** _Where is Stark?"_** **He growls to one of his men.**

 **"** ** _He was here a moment ago…"_**

 ** _"Go look for him!"_** **He barks, leaning closer to inspect the screen, only seeing a wall they had set up and Yinsen working behind it.**

 **The men ordered to look for Stark open the hatch yelling in, "Yinsen! Yinsen!"**

 **"Say something," Tony hisses as Yinsen continues preparing the suit.**

 **"He's speaking Hungarian! I don't-"**

 **"Then speak Hungarian," Tony says, knowing they're running out of time.**

 **"Okay, I don't-"**

 **"What do you know?"**

 **Yinsen shouts a reply to the men outside the door. One of them shouts back getting ready to open it. The camera pans down a bit to reveal an explosive rigged to go off if the door is opened.**

"You son of a _bitch_ ," Clint chuckles, watching as the men open the door and the bomb goes off sending them flying backwards and causing one of the cameras to go offline.

 **Upon seeing the camera go to static, Raza starts to yell to his men, sending more of them running towards the prisoners.**

 **"How'd that work?" Tony asks Yinsen, who glances over the billionaire's shoulder to view the damage.**

 **"Oh, my goodness. It worked all right."**

 **"That's what I do."**

 **"Let me finish this."**

 **"Initialize the power sequence," Tony says, and Yinsen turns around dropping his tool.**

 **"Okay."**

 **"Now!"**

 **"Tell me, tell me!" The doctor leans over an older computer, awaiting instructions.**

 **"Function 11. Tell me when you see a progress bar. It should be up right now."**

 **"Yes-"**

 **"Talk to me," Tony cuts him off, "tell me when you see it."**

 **"I have it."**

 **"Press Control 'I'"**

 **"'I.' Got it."**

 **"'I Enter' 'I' and 'Enter.' Come over here and button me up."**

 **The men are running down to the room, and Yinsen is frantically trying to finish preparing the suit. "Okay, alright."**

 **"Every other hex bolt," Tony instructs, ignoring the yelling coming closer.**

 **"They're coming!" Yinsen glances behind the armor.**

 **"Nothing pretty, just get it done. Just get it done."**

 **"They're coming…" The doctor repeats, his voice full of warning and concern.**

 **"Make sure the check points are clear before you follow me out, okay?"**

 **Yinsen is staring nervously at the laptop, the progress bar barely half way complete. "We need more time." He states as he turns around, facing the billionaire with a determined look, "Hey, I'm going to go buy you some time."**

 **"Stick to the plan!" Tony shouts as Yinsen starts walking away from him, grabbing a gun from one of the dead men and shooting it inter the air, "Stick to the plan! Yinsen!"**

"I don't like where this is going," Natasha shakes her head as she watches the man onscreen disappear from sight.

 **The men are getting closer and closer, and they run behind a corner. There's a yell and a gun going off, and soon they're running back the way they came, Yinsen chasing after them. He follows them to a room full of men, and stops when they all aim their weapons at him.**

 **The scene changes back to the room, where the laptop is sitting on the table. The progress bar reaches 100%, and the light flicker a few times before going out. There are men running through the now dark cave, towards the prisoner's quarters. They glance at the dead bodies before hesitantly stepping into the room. A rubber glove can be seen in the dark, squeezing open and shut menacingly. One of the men turns around when a bright blue light shines in his face. He looks up, and the source of the light moves, sending him flying across the room, the other men shooting bullets around the room.**

Clint cheers and stands up, "PRISON BREAK!"

"That room is full of missiles! Are they that stupid?!" Steve's voice is louder than usual as he eyes the screen in frustration.

Tony snickers and pats the Captain on the shoulder, "Pretty much, Rogers. Pretty much."

 **The men seem satisfied that they** ** _might have_** **hit their target, when the light appears again. There's more shooting, but the followers don't stand a chance. When the last one falls, the camera pans out to reveal the armor in it's entirety for the first time.**

"That's… holy shit." Steve murmurs, and everyone's thinking it.

"Cap just said a bad word! I never thought I'd see the day." Tony teases, though it's obvious to Natasha that he's making nervous quips.

 **Tony starts to walk forward in the armor, the men down the hall firing at him, though the bullets only ricochet off the metal. One brave man charges for him, but the billionaire simply swings his arm, sending the man into the cave wall. He continues walking, Raza's followers eventually turning and running away once they realize they don't stand a chance. They close a door, locking one man out by mistake. He pounds on the metal, begging for them to open it and let him through as the armor is getting closer. The men on the other side ready their weapons hearing their friend scream, and then fall silent. There's a loud bang on the door, denting it, and they all take a few steps back. There are three more bangs, and the door flies open, landing on one guy and taking him down as the others run for their lives.**

 **The genius continues through the cave, swinging at one guy who comes around a corner, but gets his arm stuck in the rock.**

The Avengers (and Fury) are on the edge of their seat, anxious to see what's going to happen. Tony is a bit paler again, but doesn't say anything.

 **One braver man comes up, holding a gun to Stark's head, but the bullet bounces of the metal of the helmet and back at the shooter, killing him. Tony finally gets the arm out of the rock and continues on relentlessly. The scene changes to Raza loading a rocket into a rocket launcher, and aiming it at the entrance way where he knows Tony will appear.**

 **Yinsen can be seen lying on stacks of rice. He's covered in blood and bullet holes, and glances to the side when the armor finally appears at the entrance.**

"Oh no," Natasha's voice is soft and barely audible. She risks a sympathetic glance at Tony, who is sitting quietly, eyes fixed on the screen though his mind is anywhere but.

 **"Yinsen!" The billionaire shouts.**

 **"Watch out!" The doctor manages to choke out despite his pain, just as Raza fires the rocket.**

 **Tony just barely avoids getting blown up, and opens a latch on his arm to fire his own missile, sending crates and bits of rock down on top of Raza. Once he's down, Tony hastily makes his way to Yinsen's side, tossing a sack off rice off his friend.**

 **"Stark…"**

 **"Come on, we gotta go." The billionaire says, flipping up the faceplate of the armor. His face is gleaming with sweat, his hair sticking to his forehead, but it's clear to anyone that his eyes are sad and full of worry, "Move for me, come on. We got a plan. We're gonna stick to it."**

 **"This was always the plan, Stark." Yinsen replies in a near whisper, struggling to stay awake just a little bit longer as he slowly fades away.**

"I do not remember that being part of the plan…" Thor mumbles; his voice full of sorrow for the fallen warrior.

"That's because it wasn't." Natasha answers, even though the question was rhetorical.

 **"Come on, you're gonna go see your family. Get up." Tony's voice is almost pleading, but the dying man before him shows no intention of moving.**

 **"My family is dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark."**

 **Tony swallows hard as he listens to his friend.**

 **"It's okay. I want this. I want this."**

 **The armored man sighs, trying his best at a small smile, "Thank you for saving me."**

 **"Don't waste it. Don't waste your life." Yinsen lets out a strangled last breath, before his eyes close one last time.**

There's a thump as Tony's chair clatters to the ground upon him standing. He runs a hand through his hair and turns his back to his team. "Asshole should've listened to the fucking plan." He hangs his head, looking completely and utterly defeated even from behind. His voice is quiet now, his rambling more for himself rather than the others to hear, but it's not hard to make out the words in the now quiet room, "What a goddamn fucking idiot. He should've just waited. If he had just…"

The team shares mournful, worried glances upon seeing the usually sarcastic, witty Tony stark in such a state. Even Fury seems a little lost for words.

"Hey," Bruce's calm, gentle voice breaks the silence. He stands, taking a few steps towards his friend to lay a tentative but reassuring hand on his shoulder, "It's not your fault, Tony. He made his choice. There's nothing you could have done to change his mind."

The billionaire stiffens at the touch, but doesn't shrug Bruce off. Instead he gives a resigned nod, allowing Bruce to guide him back to their seats. Natasha pulls the tipped over chair upright so the genius can sit down, and when he does, she ruffles his hair in a way that's oddly comforting to him. He meets her eyes for a moment, as if to tell her he's okay. She gives a nod and returns to her own seat, subtly shifting it closer to the distraught engineer as the movie resumes.


	6. Chapter 6: Lay Low

**A/N: Hello~ I love that you guys love this story, because I love reading stories like this. I always tear up a bit when Tony is rescued by Rhodey in the movie, so I was trying to convey some of that emotion into my writing. Hopefully it works but I doubt it. Let me know what you think in the comments! ~Airbrushed**

* * *

 **Tony's face changes from that of devastated to murderous like the flip of a switch. The suit jerks violently as his glare leaves the body of his friend, and instead focuses on the outside of the cave.**

 **The view changes, showing the entrance to the cave from the outside where men are standing ready with guns. Loud, resonating footsteps can be heard echoing off the cave walls. The men surrounding the entrance seem to grow increasingly nervous and rattled with each step.**

 **A faint circle of light can be seen emerging from the darkness of the cave, before a full suit of armor is revealed, dangerous and unnerving. The men stagger backwards a few steps but don't back down. Instead, there's a shout of command, and every man begins firing at the metal suit at once. The armor is a bit unsteady with the force of the bullets, but the man inside refuses to break or fall over.**

 **The men stop firing their weapons when they see how ineffective they actually are. The mechanic's eyes can be seen through the slits of the mask, showing nothing but determination and resentment.**

 **When the genius finally speaks up, his voice is low and threatening, "My turn."**

"You're fucking scary when you're angry." Clint comments. He spares a glance at the billionaire, who simply quirks his lip up in a sort of forced half smile.

 **Tony lifts his arms and flames begin shoot out from his makeshift flame throwers. The fire spread rapidly, the men firing a shot or two before taking much needed steps backwards. They're screaming as the blaze engulfs them and their camp, Stark turning the flames to their stockpile of his weapons. He burns them all, setting fire to every crate stamped with his name, every gun, man, and missile.**

"What are you doing?! Those are explosives!" Steve's tone is somewhere between worry and on the verge of a lecture regarding Tony's destructive ways.

Tony rolls his eyes and runs his hand through his hair in frustration, "Great deduction skills, Captain Obvious; that was the point." His voice is practically dripping with annoyance. _'Why does no one get it? He knew the risks; the risks weren't the point. It was to rid the world of his weapons of mass destruction; it didn't matter to him if it cost him his life.'_

"It doesn't matter what the point was! You could have blown yourself up in the process!" Steve snaps back, his tone like ice against Tony's fire.

Instead of easing the flames in Tony's eyes, the soldier's words only succeeded in fueling the fire, "So what if it did?! Do you even know how many people were probably fucking blown up because of me?! Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if karma decided that's how I should go out; _the crime fits the punishment, Rogers."_

At some point, the two had risen to their feet, nearly chest to chest. Their eyes are boring into one another, full of challenge and anger. Fury casts exasperated glances between the two men, who should really be referred to as children when they're at each other's throats. His one eye moves back and forth, studying their actions before he finally decides enough is enough, because if Steve decides to deck Stark in the face, all hell is going to break loose.

"Alright that's enough, you two. Stark, sit your ass down and shut up." When Tony gives him an affronted glare, he adds with a sigh, "You too, Rogers. That's an order."

"Um, I don't take orders from pirates. It's kind of my policy." Tony quips, clasping his hands behind his back.

Natasha rolls her eyes and reaches for his shirt collar, tugging him back into his seat in one swift motion. He pouts at her but the look has no affect, so instead he sighs and leans back in his seat.

Steve had taken his seat as soon as the Director had said the word 'order,' leaving Tony silently applauding himself in his head for getting his two cents in.

 **A man on higher ground crouches in front of a stronger, more powerful gun, firing quick, consistent shots at the suit of armor. The flames stop shooting from Tony's arms now as the bullets ricochet of the metal. Other men join in again, shooting at the suit in rapid succession. One lucky bullet lands in the join of one of the knees, and the armor goes down, bullets still flying and the flames still spreading around him.**

Every person, save Tony, moves to the edge of their seat upon seeing the suit falter. Thor is clutching Mjolnir's handle with a white knuckled grip. Steve and Bruce are gripping the arms of their chairs in fear of lashing out. Natasha appears calm at first glance, but upon further inspection anyone could see that she's a little on edge about what's happening on screen. Fury and Clint are leaning forward, eyes focused on the monitor and the struggling man in the makeshift suit of armor.

 **Tony's not done yet, even when he's down on his knees surrounded by flame. He shoots another stream of fire, causing the crate near one shooter to explode, but bullets are still bouncing off the metal. The view widens and the explosives start to go off, the men just outside the blaze retreating. Inside the mess of explosions and fire, Tony finally gets to his feet, flipping a red switch on the inside of his left arm. There's another blast before the view widens, showing the chain reaction of every explosion. Something bursts through the rising smoke and flame, veering away from the camp.**

"It can _fly_ too?!" Clint shouts over the sound of explosions, sounding completely amazed.

"Yeah, not exactly." Tony snorts, watching as the screen shows a brief shot of him in the armor, rising out of the flames.

 **The boosters in the armor abruptly stop, the camera showing Tony shouting as he's falling out of the sky, bits of the suit falling off. He crash lands in the sand, the armor effectively falling apart and scattering. There's a pained grunt, the view panning forward towards a half armored Tony Stark. He shakes off the mess of wires and metal that remains of the arms, before flipping off the face mask and throwing it aside.**

 **He's bloody and dirty and no doubt in pain, fresh blood staining his lips, "Not bad."**

"Your creation served you well in the midst of battle, friend Anthony!" Thor exclaims, raising Mjolnir for effect and looking not unlike a Viking for a moment, though no one says it because the God resents being called a Viking.

Tony allows a small grin to sneak past his lips as he mentally pats himself on the back, "Yeah; what a piece of junk."

 **The scene changes and he's walking through the desert, jacket draped over his head to block the unforgiving heat of the sun. His arms are bloody and his pants torn, though the arc reactor still glows through his dark green wife beater.**

"Jesus Christ, how long were you out there?" Steve questions, his voice is hesitant, not wanting to piss off the billionaire even more, but his eyes never leave the injured, dehydrated Tony Stark stumbling through the desert sand on screen.

"Too long for my liking," Is Tony's simple reply, though the hint of bitterness is not hard to miss.

 **As the billionaire is walking up a sand dune, the faint sound of an engine can be heard before a helicopter rises over the horizon, followed by a second. Tony looks up before he starts shouting and flaring his good arm, "HEY!"**

 **He keeps shouting until the helicopter lands, laughing like a maniac as he falls to his knees, the fingers of his raised arm forming a peace sign before letting it fall to his side. Men rush out of the chopper, a familiar face running in front of the group of men.**

The music playing through the speakers mixed with the look of pure relief on onscreen Tony's face makes a few of the team members' eyes' water, though they refuse to let the tears fall. Bruce is one of these people, as well as Steve, surprisingly enough. Natasha has the slightest trace of a smile playing across her lips, as does Clint and Thor. Fury isn't smiling, but he doesn't look like his usual angry self either.

Thor's grin spreads wider and he starts to clap, the others joining in as the god claps Tony on the shoulder with a gentle(ish) nudge.

Tony rolls his eyes, but the smallest of smiles is evident on his face as well.

 **Rhodey's face reveals his ease mixed with concern for his long lost friend, "How was the fun-vee?"**

 **Tony lets out a forced laugh, relief flooding his features as Rhodey kneels down in front of him and rests a hand on his shoulder.**

 **"Next time you ride with me, okay?" His voice is shaky and almost cracks, but when he gathers Tony in a firm hug, Tony leans into him, allowing his friend to support him.**

Tony is slightly grinning at the screen, but everyone else seems to be on the verge of tears _again_ , even Thor this time; hell even _Natasha_. Fury still seems to be the only one collected, but the relief is evident in his features, too.

 **A US Air Force plane is landing before the shot changes to Pepper Potts waiting outside with Happy behind her. Her makeup is running and her eyes are red as the ramp in the back of the plane opens. Rhodey is standing next to Tony, who gets up from his wheel chair, allowing his friend to support him as they walk down the ramp.**

 **Rhodey is crying at finally bringing his best friend home, where he belongs, but it's clear he's doing his best to hide it. Pepper smiles when she sees her boss. His arm is in a sling and his face is cut up in a few places, but he's cleaned up and freshly shaven.**

 **"Watch it, coming up here." Rhodes instructs the billionaire, gesturing to the ramp.**

 **Men stroll up with a gurney, but Tony dismissively wave his good arm, "Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them." He lets go of Rhodeys hand, but the man stays close by as he approaches Pepper.**

 **"Your eyes are red," He notes, holding his chin high, "A few tears for your long-lost boss?"**

 **"Tears of joy; I hate job hunting."**

 **"Yeah, vacation's over."**

 **They're seated in the car now, Happy in the driver seat and Tony and Pepper in back.**

 **"Where to, Sir?"**

 **"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy." Pepper answers, but Tony immediately refuses.**

 **"No."**

 **"No?"**

 **"No is a complete answer."**

 **"Tony you have to go to the hospital. The doctor has to look at you."**

 **"I don't have to do anything," He glances over at her and she stops talking, "I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger, and the other…"**

 **"That's enough of that," Pepper cuts him off.**

 **"… Is not what you think," He continues, "I want you to call for a press conference now."**

 **"Call for a press conference?" She asks, completely exasperated already.**

 **"Yeah."**

 **"What on earth for?"**

 **"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first." He instructs Happy.**

Everyone snickers at that.

"Again with the food after a near death experience?" Steve smirks, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. I worked hard for that damn cheeseburger, and I worked hard for the Shwarma, too."

 **Happy pulls the car up outside where the press conference is being held. Everyone claps and Obadiah is revealed, running up to the car and opening the door.**

 **"Look at this! Tony." He hugs the billionaire once he steps out of the car. When he pulls away he places both hands on Tony's shoulders, "We were going to meet at the hospital."**

 **"No, I'm fine." He insists as Happy comes around the back of the vehicle, holding out a Burger King bag. Tony reaches inside and pulls out a burger.**

 **"Look at you," Obie continues, "You had to have a burger, yeah?"**

 **"Well, come on." They start walking towards the door together, Obadiah's hand on his shoulder.**

 **"You get me one of those?" The older man asks, gesturing to the sandwich.**

 **"Uh, there's only one left. I need it."**

 **They're walking down a hall just as Tony finishes his burger. Cameras are flashing and people are shouting inquires. While Tony makes his way to the podium the view shows Pepper as a familiar man approaches her.**

 **"Miss Potts?"**

"No way." Clint leans forward, studying his late friend.

Fury shifts uncomfortably in his seat, earning him a questionable look from Natasha. She squints her eyes at him, studying his body language. The others must see it as well, and the movie pauses when they all turn to gaze at him.

"What is it, Nat?" Clint looks from her to Fury, but Natasha's gaze never leaves Nick's.

She ignores him, giving the Director one last once over, "We're going to have a talk after this." She states with finality. Fury nods, obviously not wanting to get on her bad side; Tony doesn't blame him.

 **"Yes?"**

 **"Can I speak to you for a moment?"**

 **"I'm not part of the press conference," She explains, gesturing to the crowd of reporters, "but it's about to begin right now."**

 **"I'm not a reporter. I'm agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Linguistics Division." He clarifies as he hands her a card.**

 **"That's quite a mouthful," She says, reaching for the card.**

 **"I know. We're working on it."**

 **"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA…"**

 **"We're a separate division with a more specific focus," He cuts her off. "We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."**

 **"I'll put something in the book, shall I?"**

 **"Thank you." He nods, giving her a genuine tight lipped smile before walking away. She turns her attention to the press conference.**

 **Obadiah is standing at the podium trying to settle down the crowd. He glances down, the camera following his gaze to reveal Tony sitting on the ground, leaning against the stand and pulling a hidden burger out of his pocket.**

 **"Hey would it be alright if everyone sat down? Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can… a little less formal, and…" He pauses to take a bite of his cheeseburger.**

 **"What's with the love-in?" Rhodey asks as he sits beside Pepper.**

 **"Don't look at me. I don't know what he's up to."**

 **"Good to see you," Tony glances away from his food and at Obie, who is seated beside him.**

 **"Good to see you." The older says, putting his hand on the billionaire's shoulder.**

 **"I never got to say goodbye to dad."**

If Steve noticeably tenses up at this, no one says anything.

 **"I never got to say goodbye to my father," He repeats, a bit louder this time as he addresses the reporters. "There's questions I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels."**

 **His face is suddenly very serious, and he appears as if he staring off into nothing, lost in his own memories, "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw, that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."**

 **A reporter hesitantly raises his hand, "Mr. Stark!"**

 **"Hey, Ben."**

 **"What happened over there?"**

 **Tony stands now, going to walk around the podium, "I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world, than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International," All of the reporters stand up at once, each one shouting questions and demanding answers. Obadiah stands with them, approaching Tony on the podium and laying a hand on his shoulder, trying to move him away but the billionaire continues, "until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be. What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well."**

 **Obie steps in front of the microphone, having finally succeeded in shooing the genius away, "What we should take away from this, is that Tony's back! And he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion, and we'll get back to you with a follow-up."**

 **The scene changes and Obadiah is approaching on a segway, cigar in his mouth when he approaches Happy, "Where is he?"**

 **"He's inside." He replies, taking the abandoned segway.**

 **When Obie enters the building, Tony is standing behind a railing, gazing up a giant machine flashing blue; it's humming filling the otherwise silent room.**

"What is that?" Steve asks, his expression puzzled as he studies the machinery.

"Arc reactor," Tony deadpans, his eyes only briefly meeting the soldier's.

"That? But it's huge. How did you make it so small?"

The billionaire grins, tapping the miniature reactor in his chest then tapping the side of his head over his temple, "Genius."

 **"Well that… that went well," Obadiah says, the cigar between his teeth and hands on his hips.**

 **"Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?" Tony asks, adjusting his shirt collar as the older man approaches.**

 **"Your head? What about my head? What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?"**

 **"Optimistically, 40 points."**

 **"At minimum."**

 **"Yep."**

 **"Tony, we're a weapons manufacturer."**

 **"Obie, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy."**

 **"That's what we do. We're Iron Mongers. We make weapons." The older man explains, but Tony isn't buying into it.**

 **"It's my name on the side of the building."**

 **"And what we do keeps the world from falling into chaos," Obadiah says, ignoring Tony's reasoning.**

 **"Not based on what I saw. We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better; we're going to do something else."**

 **"Like what? You want us to make baby bottles?"**

 **There's a pause before Tony speaks up again, "I think we should take another look into arc reactor technology."**

 **"Come on. The arc reactor?" Obie says, fed up as he gestures towards the giant machine, "That's a publicity stunt! Tony, come on, we built that thing to shut the hippies up!"**

 **"It works."**

 **"Yeah, as a science project," Obadiah walks to other side of Tony now, "The arc reactor was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it. Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?"**

 **"Maybe," Tony replies, his back to his business partner.**

 **"Am I right? We haven't had a break-through in that in, what? Thirty years?"**

 **Tony turns to face him now, his features giving nothing away, unlike the older man, "That's what they say." He eyes him, squinting as if it would help him get a better read on what Obadiah is thinking, "Could you have a lousier poker face? Just tell me, who told you?"**

 **"Never mind who told me," He says, pointing his cigar at the billionaire's chest, "Show me."**

 **"It's Rhodey or Pepper."**

 **"I want to see it."**

 **"Okay, Rhodey." Tony says, removing his sling and unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt, revealing the gentle blue glow of the arc reactor.**

 **Obadiah takes a quick look and grins, before reaching forward and fastening the buttons of Tony's shirt again, "Okay."**

 **"Okay? It works."**

 **The older man loops his arm around Tony's shoulder, leaning in to speak to him, "Listen to me, Tony. We're a team, do you understand?"**

"What is with this guy and touching you all the time?" Bruce asks, more as a rhetorical side comment.

Tony just shrugs, but he can't help but feel a bit uncomfortable watching Obie on screen.

 **"There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I."**

 **Tony looks away from him at the mention of his father, "I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay? But if I had…"**

 **"Tony." He interrupts, effectively shutting up the billionaire, "Tony, no more of this 'Ready, fire, aim' business. You understand me?"**

 **"That was Dad's line."**

 **Obie gives him a look before taking his hand off of the brunette's shoulder, "You gotta let me handle this. We're going to have to play a whole different kind of ball now." He explains as Tony gathers his abandoned sling and jacket and starts walking for the door, Obadiah following, "We're going to have to take a lot of heat. I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low."**

"Stark? Lay low?" Clint snickers, "Good luck."

"Hey; I think I did alright. Besides, I wasn't exactly in the mood for people staring at me and asking why I have a flashlight embedded in my chest. Not as fun of a conversation as one would think." Tony shrugs and self consciously goes back to tapping nervously on his reactor.

They seem to accept his reasoning, and given that some them had also wondered what the arc reactor was at some point in time, they decided not to question it. Instead, they turned back to the screen.


	7. Chapter 7: Upgraded Unit

**A TV can be seen, the words 'Mad Money' on the bottom, along with 'Stark Industries (SIA)'. The man on the show speaks up, "Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Ready? Ready?" He reaches for a button beside him, the words, "Sell, sell, sell!" coming over the speakers.**

"I hate that show." Natasha says, rolling her eyes at the monitor.

"Everyone hates that show." Fury says, sharing an equally deadly glare at the screen.

 **"Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells?" He continues.**

"That's not funny." Steve comments, leaning back in his chair.

"And that's why everyone hates that show." Clint supplies, rolling his eyes at the man on screen every self respecting American as grown to resent.

 **The screen shows an annoyed, exasperated Pepper Potts before switching back to the TV.**

 **"Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plan!" The man grabs a bat, swinging it at a mug on the table in front of him. It cracks instantly, sending a loud crashing sound through the speakers.**

 **Pepper winces but keeps watching, pursing her lips as she eyes the TV.**

 **"Look; that's a weapons company, that doesn't make weapons!"**

 **"Pepper, how big are your hands?" Tony's voice is suddenly heard, and the Strawberry blonde leans over a touch pad on the table, muting the television.**

 **"What?"**

 **"How big are your hands?" He repeats.**

 **"I don't understand why…" Her voice is edged with confusion, but Tony cuts her off.**

 **"Get down here. I need you." There's a sense of urgency to his tone, so inevitably she concedes.**

"Dude, really? She's your assistant." Clint rolls his eyes at the billionaire, who only smirks, earning him a glare from a certain super soldier.

 **The scene changes and Pepper can be seen approaching the glass doors of the workshop. A touch pad appears on the glass and she enters her access code, hesitantly stepping inside.**

 **"Hey." Tony is sitting on a chair not unlike those at a dentist's office, electrodes stuck to his chest and an arc reactor in his grasp. "Let's see them. Show me your hands. Let's see them." He wiggles his fingers and she holds up her hands for him to see, "Oh, wow. They are small. Very petite, indeed."**

"Please don't tell me this is going where I think it's going," Natasha nearly groans as she mentally prepares herself for what she's about to witness.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I think we both know where this is going," He smirks back, leaning back in his chair to enjoy the show. He can't deny that it'll be a bit uncomfortable having these people see the most private part of him, but he'd never admit it out loud.

 **He turns to look at the arc reactor in his hands when he speaks again, "I just need your help for a sec."**

 **"Oh, my God, is that the thing that's keeping you alive?" She asks as she makes her way over to his side, her eyes fixed on the makeshift technology in his chest.**

 **"It was. It is now an antique." He holds up the new reactor, this one much improved in its quality, "This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I'm swapping it out for an upgraded unit, and I just ran into a little speed bump."**

 **"Speed bump, what does that mean?" She sounds concerned, her eyes widening just the slightest bit.**

 **"Nothing," He waves a hand as if it were really no big deal, "It's just a little snag."**

 **He reaches his free hand for the reactor currently in his chest, "There's an exposed wire under this device," He continues as he twists his hand over it, "And it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short. It's fine." He says in response to her gasp as he yanks it out, handing it to a concerned and very much nervous Pepper Potts.**

Fury allows for an amused chuckle as he shakes his head, eyes fixed on the poor strawberry blonde on the monitor, "How that woman has managed to put up with you all these years is beyond me."

Tony feels like he should be offended, but in all honestly, he would have to agree.

 **"What do you want me to do?" She questions, obviously unsure about the situation.**

 **"Put that on the table over there. That is irrelevant," He states with the flick of his wrist.**

 **"Oh, my god," She sighs as she sets the old reactor aside.**

 **"I just want you to reach in, and you're just going to gently lift the wire out." He explains as Pepper turns back to him, her eyes blowing wide as he explains her job.**

"Knew it," Natasha states, mentally patting herself on the back.

"Did you seriously just ask her to _reach_ into your _chest_?" Clint gapes, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What was I supposed to do? I wasn't going to let dummy do it; I'm not suicidal." He explains, and apparently it gets the point across, because everyone knows by this point that Dummy is less than helpful.

 **She peers skeptically into the hole before looking at Tony, who is noticeably just as uncomfortable with the situation as she is, "Is it safe?"**

 **"Yeah, it should be fine." He gestures to the metal casing, "It's like Operation. You just don't let it touch the socket wall, or it goes 'beep.'"**

 **"What do you mean Operation?"**

 **"It's just a game never mind."**

"It's seems like a little more serious than just a 'beep' Tony. Wouldn't that shock you?"

Of course Bruce picks _now_ to speak up. His eyebrows are furrowed and he's wearing the slightest bit of a frown on his face at the billionaire's lack of safety measures.

"Yeah, well, she did fine, for the most part… considering." He shrugs and turns back to the screen.

 **"Just gently lift the** ** _wire_** **, okay? Great." He states as Pepper starts reaching her hand forward.**

 **"Okay…" Her hand goes in slightly, but is quickly drawn out followed by the shake of her head, "You know, I don't think that I'm qualified to do this."**

 **"No, you're fine." He reassures her, "You are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met. You're gonna do great." When she still casts him an uneasy glance, he adds, "Is it too much of a problem to ask? 'Cause I'm…"**

 **"Okay, okay."**

 **"I really need your help here."**

 **"Okay," She exhales and reaches her hand forward again. Instead of pulling out, it goes further in, almost up to her wrist. He leans his head back and avoids eye contact with her, shifting slightly in the chair. She shrieks when there's a squelching noise, making a face of disgust, "Oh, there's puss!"**

"I think I might be sick." Clint gags, but forces himself to keep his eyes on the screen.

"How deep does that go?!" Steve is nearly gagging as well, sitting as far back in his seat as he can.

"Like 4 inches or so." Tony says, dismissively waving his hand, a regular gesture for the billionaire.

"4 inches? Doesn't that hurt?"

"Sometimes. You get used to it." he shrugs.

" _You get used to it?_ " Bruce bites out, glaring daggers at the billionaire. He knew the reactor was invasive, sure, but Tony never mentioned anything about it hurting him.

"It's not like I have much of a choice here, guys! Why is this such a surprise to you people?" He snaps back, giving the Avengers and Fury looks that are practically daring them to say anything else.

And of course Steve fucking Rogers takes that dare.

"It's just that you've never told anyone that it hurts you-" He starts, but Tony cuts him off.

"Of course it fucking hurts sometimes! They had to cut through _bone_ and layers of _muscle_ to get the electromagnet in. It's _in_ my chest, it takes up space, decreases my over all lung capacity, whatever. Sorry that I don't share my feelings with you guys about how it _sometimes_ bothers me; because it's just something _I have to live with._ " He glares back at Steve, and even pauses his ranting to cast the others in the room a stern look before settling his gaze on Bruce, "So yes _, 'you get used to it.'"_

Steve swallows hard, but apparently that answer isn't good enough for him. "But don't you think you should still have told _someone?_ In case… in case-"

"In case what, Rogers? So someone can hold my hand on a particularly bad day, and tell me it's okay? It's going to be alright? I don't need your god damn sympathy. There's this great new thing they have in the 21st century; yeah, they're called fucking _pain meds._ They work well enough."

And now isn't that great, because everyone in the damn room is staring at him like he's gone completely mad- and yeah, okay, there's probably some truth to that- but that's just the price that comes with being a genius. You're a little unstable, a little crazy, and that's fine, he'll admit to that, but _this._ These… these _looks_ like it's so weird that he hasn't told anyone the arc reactor hurts him. He was like 99% sure that it was self explanatory, but apparently not everyone can be a genius.

Fury is squinting his stupid eye at him, Romanoff and Barton are doing that dumb sizing-you-up look, Thor is just sitting there twiddling his thumbs like he has no idea what's going on, but his sympathetic gaze is unmistakable. Bruce is doing his breathing exercises, trying to keep his skin from tinting green, and failing miserably.

And Steve; _Steve_ just looks offended, though it seems to be mixed with the slightest bit of understanding, and isn't _that_ just like him.

He can't keep avoiding their gazes, and because this is making him extremely uncomfortable, he starts scrambling his brain for an apology, "I uh," He clears his throat and turns his head away, "I just… sorry. Okay? Can we please just finish this?" He pinches the bridge of his nose between in thumb and forefinger, trying to ease the headache threatening to surface.

There's a brief moment of silence before Natasha nods, but no one says or does anything besides turn to the monitor as the movie continues.

 **"It's not puss," Onscreen Tony explains in hopes of easing the blonde's disgust, "It's an inorganic plasmic discharge from the device, not from my body."**

 **"It smells!" Pepper shrieks again, turning her head and making a face.**

 **"Yeah it does. The copper wire. The copper wire, you got it?"**

 **"Okay, I got it! I got it!"**

 **"Okay, you got it? Now don't let it touch the sides- AH, OW!" There's a buzzing sound when he shouts from the pain, "When you're coming out!"**

 **"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She cries out, doing her best not panic upon seeing Tony's face twisted in discomfort.**

 **"That's what I was trying to tell you before." He says as the monitors start beeping for a brief moment, before slowly calming down, "Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don't-" Pepper pulls before he can finish, and a circular object attached to the copper wire comes out with it, dripping with the plasmic discharge, "There's a magnet a-at the end of it! That was it. You just pulled it out." The heart monitor starts beeping like crazy, and the blonde is having a very difficult time keeping it together.**

 **"Oh, god!" Pepper holds it over the chest cavity, having no idea what to do with it.**

 **"Okay, I was not expecting… Don't put it back in! Don't put it back in!"**

 **Pepper turns and sets the magnet aside, "Okay, what do I do? What's wrong?!"**

 **He takes a deep breath, "Nothing. I'm just going into cardiac arrest 'cause you** ** _yanked_** **it out like a trout…"**

 **"What?! I thought you said this was safe!" She's nearly shouting at this point, but Tony is doing his best to keep his cool and simply continues giving her directions.**

 **"We gotta hurry, take this. Take this." He hands her the new arc reactor, the heart monitors beeping faster and faster, "You gotta switch it out really quick."**

 **"Okay, okay." She takes it and lays a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she tries to collect herself, "Tony? It's going to be okay."**

 **"What?" He says between strangled breaths.**

 **"It's gonna be okay."**

 **"Is it?"**

 **"I'm gonna make this okay."**

 **"Let's hope."**

"Pepper, hurry up!" Steve leans forward in his seat again, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over the group before.

 **She grabs the end of the wire, reaching inside his chest again as he instructs her, his breathing becoming noticeably more labored and uneven.**

 **"Okay, you're going to attach that to the base plate. Make s-sure you- YEOW!" He shouts when she finally gets the wires attached, reaching for the reactor she's trying to secure in his chest. "Was that so hard? That was fun, right? Here, I got it. I got it. Here." He twists the reactor in place, "Nice."**

The group collectively releases the breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding, those who were nearly on the edge of their sit leaning back a bit, allowing the tension to leave their bodies.

 **She looks at her hands, now dripping with the discharge, then back at him, "Are you okay?"**

 **"Yeah, I feel great. You okay?" He grins at her, letting out an honest laugh at her expression.**

 **She sighs heavily but can't help but grin back as the adrenaline settles, "Don't ever, ever, ever,** ** _ever_** **ask me to do anything like that,** ** _ever again_** **."**

 **His smile dies a bit as he considers her request, "I don't have anyone but you," He notes with a shrug and a quirk of his lips. She stares at him for a moment, meeting his eyes in a brief moment of silence before he looks away. "Anyway…" He pulls the electrodes off his chest, standing and grabbing the cover of the reactor off the table beside him, fastening it in place.**

 **"What do you want me to do with this?" Pepper holds up the old arc reactor.**

 **"Destroy it. Incinerate it." He says, turning to the blonde and tapping his fingers against the upgraded unit in his chest.**

 **"You don't want to keep it?" She turns it around in her hands, studying it for a moment before looking back up at him.**

 **"Pepper, I've been called many things. Nostalgic is not one of them."**

 **She seems to consider this for a moment before she responds, "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"**

 **"That will be all, Miss. Potts." He turns away, pointing towards one of his bots as Pepper makes to leave the lab, "Hey, butterfingers, come here. What's all this stuff doing on top of my desk? That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my Dad." The bot turns towards the desk to get to work as he continues, "Right there. In the garbage, all that stuff."**

 **He turns to look at Pepper as she's leaving, reaching his hand to his chest and drumming his fingers over the arc reactor, making a gentle tapping sound.**

"And so the nervous habit begins," Natasha quips, rolling her head to the side so she can eye the mechanic.

"Nervous ha- that is not a nervous habit." He states defensively, almost bringing his hand up to the reactor but catching himself, and instead crossing his arms over his chest.

"Right." She gives him a knowing smile, to which he grunts in reply.


	8. Chapter 8: Still a Pain in my Ass

**A/N: Hello~ I'm not ahead of myself in the writing process for this story anymore, which is why it's taking a little longer to post these chapters. I don't want to rush them, though. I'll probably post the next chapter for my other story tomorrow, sorry for those of you who are waiting so patiently! I'm doing my best! Anyways, please comment and let me know what you think.**

* * *

 **The scene changes again, this time the setting being the US airbase. A familiar voice is heard just a plane is being rolled up, before it switches to reveal a group of people indoors. They're dressed in simple green Air Force uniforms, and seem to be on something not unlike a tour.**

 **"The future of air combat; is it manned or unmanned?" Rhodey is revealed, leading the group of young men through the building, past the rows of jets as he speaks, "I'll tell you, in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight, that ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern its outcome, or a pilot's judgement."**

 **"Colonel?" A voice cuts him off before he can continue any further, and the camera pans to the side to reveal Tony Stark, dressed in a grey shirt accompanied by a leather jacket that manages to hide the glow of the upgraded arc reactor in his chest, "Why not a pilot without the plane?"**

Natasha seemed to take notice of the position of the jacket's collar, cocking her head to the side with wonder, "Why exactly do feel the need to hide the reactor?"

The billionaire doesn't say anything for a moment or two, carefully picking through his brain for the best way to word his response, "It's unnatural, odd; makes people uncomfortable."

"It's a technical marvel," she adds, though it sounds more accurately like a correction.

"It's a vulnerability," He corrects her correction.

"That's also true," she sighs, but instead of letting it go, she leans forward in her seat and gives the glowing arc a gentle but firm tap at its' center with her first finger, before she adds very softly, "but it's also a part of you, идиот."

He looks uncomfortable for a moment, mostly at the fact that he can actually somewhat _feel_ it in his chest when she tapped at the reactor's surface, but he quickly replaces his expression with one of mock offence, "Ты только что назвал меня идиотом, Romanoff?" _(Did you just call me an idiot, Romanoff?)_

"Uh, what?" Steve glances between the two, utterly confused at this point.

She flashes him a grin, having been unaware of his ability to speak her native language, "Неплохо. Так как , когда вы можете говорить по-русски?" _(Not bad. Since when can you speak Russian?)_

"Так как я был в плену в пещере психотическими террористами," He replies with a much more serious tone, though the spark of amusement, and possibly a dash of challenge, can be seen in his eyes. _(Since I was held captive in a cave by psychotic terrorists.)_

"Что еще ты уйдёшь с после того, как все это время?" She raises her eyebrow, her tone taking that of a more concerned one. _(What else did you walk away with after all that time?)_

He simply shrugs and holds up his hands, revealing the expanse of scarring the chemical burns had left on his skin, trailing from his fingers and up his arms, "Отсутствие надлежащего оборудования безопасности , я боюсь." _(Lack of proper safety equipment, I'm afraid.)_

She quickly studies the scars, taking note of each one and wondering how she had not noticed them before. She must have brushed them off as a normal thing for the engineer, which isn't entirely wrong.

The other's, while still beyond confused about the entire conversation the assassin and the genius had just had in Russian, are admittedly taken aback a bit by the sight.

"Oh please," Tony rolls his eyes, dismissively flicking his wrist, "It's not my fault they didn't exactly care about my health. I'm fine, it's over. Quit whining about it."

 **"Look who fell out of the sky. Mr. Tony Stark," Rhodey supplies to the group as his friend walks up, shaking the hand of the nearest man.**

 **"Speaking of manned or unmanned, you gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong at spring break. Just remember that; spring break, 1987." He turns to Rhodey now, "That lovely lady you woke up with-"**

 **"Don't do that!" He interjects, his tone not far off from that of a warning.**

 **"What was his name?"**

 **The group laughs at that as Rhodey continues to protest.**

 **"Don't do that."**

 **"Was it Ivan?" Tony questions with a sly grin.**

 **"Don't do that. They'll believe it. Don't do that." He repeats, giving his friend an exasperated smile with a shake of his head.**

"That totally happened, by the way." Tony commented, as if it were just common knowledge.

 **"Okay," The billionaire concedes as he turns to face the group, "Pleasure meeting you."**

 **"Give us a couple minutes, you guys," The Colonel states, the group starting to turn away as he moves to face Tony. "I'm surprised."**

 **"Why?"**

 **"I swear I didn't expect to see you walking around so soon."**

 **"I'm doing a little better than walking," Tony states with a smug grin.**

 **Rhodey crosses his arms and gives his friend a questionable (if not slightly wary) look, "Really?"**

 **"Yeah. Rhodey, I'm working on something big," He elaborates, raising an eyebrow, "I came to talk to you. I want you to be a part of it."**

 **Rhodey allows a small smile to creep past his lips, "You're about to make a whole lot of people around here real happy, cause that little stunt at the press conference, that was a doozy," He states with a hint of a laugh and the shake of his head.**

 **Tony noticeably hesitates for a minute, trying to find the right words, "This… is not for the military. I'm not…" He shakes his head, earning him a curious glare from Rhodes, "It's different."**

 **The Colonel furrows his brows, "What? You're a humanitarian now, or something?"**

"This is quite odd…" Thor tenses up a bit, wondering why friend Tony's best friend was treating him with such disrespect.

 **"I need you to listen to me-"**

 **"No," Rhodey cuts him off, "What you need, is time, to get your mind right."**

 **Tony offers a tight lipped smile, but the hurt is obvious in his features as his friend continues.**

 **"I'm serious."**

 **"Okay," It's barely a whisper, accompanied by a short nod from the billionaire before his face falls altogether.**

 **"It's nice seeing you, Tony," Rhodey says, clearly done having this discussion as he begins walking away.**

 **"Thanks," The billionaire states, so quietly almost anyone would have missed it. His gaze is far off is friend leaves him.**

"Seriously? I thought you guys were best friends… if anyone would understand, shouldn't it be him?" Steve looks to the genius, studying him for an answer.

"It was… different. Everyone knew how I was; they all thought the press conference was a joke, too. You know, just some spur of the moment decision resulting from PTSD. No one actually believed I was done with weapons, and I guess that included Rhodey, too." He shrugged, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"But if-"

Tony cuts him off before he can argue further, his tone sharp, "That's all there is to it, Ice Pop."

 **The next shot was of the exterior of the Malibu home, but it quickly shifted to show Tony's desk. A hand swipes over a surface to reveal a touch sensitive keyboard, though the keys were filled with symbols rather than letters and numbers.**

"How do you even understand that?" Clint furrows his brow as he gazes at the screen, studying the unfamiliar symbols.

"Seriously? Do I need to define the term 'genius' to you guys? Because I will, if that's what it takes." He crosses his arms over his chest, glancing around the room in case someone needed him to elaborate, because, well, he totally would.

 **"Jarvis, you up?" The owner of the hands (and very expensive looking gold watch) asks, typing an intricate pattern on the keyboard.**

 **The view switches to reveal Tony sitting at his desk, clad in an MIT sweatshirt.**

 **"For you, Sir, always," came the smooth British accent of Jarvis, the fondness in his tone near impossible to miss, even if he is an artificial intelligence.**

 **The view switches again, showing Tony from behind, giving the viewer a look at what's on the screens in front of him. On the left is what appears to be a model of the Mark I, with a few of its parts on the left and right of it. On the right screen, there are what appear to be lines of code.**

"How did you get those designs on your home computer?" Clint questions with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't. I had to leave behind my original plans, but I had already memorized them."

Clint smirks and shakes his head, "Of course you did."

 **"I'd like to open a new project file, index as Mark Two." He states as he grabs an object not unlike a pen from a mug on his desk. He points it at the screen and begins to drag to Mark I designs to the side, where they move off the screen and appear as a hologram on the table beside him.**

"Woah, hang on a second. How the hell did you do that?" Steve questions, amazement in his voice.

"Um, I designed it to do that." Tony replies as if he doesn't understand how it's that much of a surprise, "You should see my lab _these_ days. I've made tons of upgrades since then."

"This was in 2008?" Bruce interjects, furrowing his brow.

"Uh huh."

"And you had that advanced of technology?" He says with a grin and a shake of his head.

"Of course I did, Brucie Bear! Now shush."

 **"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries Central Database?" Jarvis asks, just as the hologram takes its full form on the table.**

"Nope. Not a chance." Tony remarks with an exasperated sigh.

 **"Actually, I don't know who to trust right now," The genius replies, standing from his desk chair and stuffing the 'pen' into his pocket as he makes his way around the table, "Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?"**

 **"Working on a secret project, are we, Sir?" Jarvis' tone holds a bit of amusement as Tony begins studying the hologram.**

 **Tony doesn't answer right away, and instead reaches forward for the head of the suit, flipping it back and raising the arms. He begins to drag a portion of the design into a holographic trash can when he finally answers his AI, "I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands." He turns the suit around and grabs another piece, also tossing it in the trash, "Maybe in mine, it can actually do some good." He gives the design one final spin before the scene changes.**

"Which, as much as it pains me to say it, it has," Fury reluctantly admits, "I don't think I would trust the Iron Man suit in the hands of anyone but you."

Tony just stares at him in complete surprise, the rare compliment from the Director having silenced the rest of the group as well, before the billionaire responds with a tad uncertainty, "Um… and why is that, exactly? And what about Rhodey?"

"You designed it. You know how it works, and you know what it's capable of. You built it for the purpose of doing good, even if it has caused some problems along the way. I trust Colonel Rhodes with the armor because _you_ trust Colonel Rhodes, or else he never would have had access to it in the first place."

His answer is stated such a matter of fact tone that Tony actually has to take a minute to comprehend what he's hearing. When he still finds himself speechless, Fury adds, "Now don't go getting the wrong idea. You're still a pain in my ass, Stark."

 **Men are shown walking through the desert, sand blowing and wind rustling. One man is shown digging, a cloth pulled over his mouth and goggles over his eyes. More men are shown carrying bits of machinery through the sand while others continue digging around.**

 **One is on his knees, swiping away sand to reveal a metal object. He grabs for it and holds it up as he stands, the sand flowing out of the holes in the object to reveal the Mark I face mask. The man calls out, and the leader, Raza, turns around, the right side of his head exhibiting a nasty burn. His face is stern, and it's obvious even through his protective glasses. He calls back and the man holding the face mask makes his way over, handing his findings to Raza, who studies it with a deadly glare.**

"This is rather troubling," Thor states with a frown, furrowing his brow and leaning forward in his seat.

 **The scene changes again and it's back in Tony's workshop. He's seated at a work bench, surrounded by a variety of tools and wires that are scattered across the surface. Dummy is beside him as he works on a piece of machinery resembling a boot. It's stripped down, revealing the complex design inside.**

 **Dummy is holding a magnifying glass as the genius works with a soldering iron.**

 **"Next," He finishes the section he's working on and orders Dummy, "Up. Not in the boot, Dummy. Right here, you got me?" He points and the bots arm adjusts to meet his command.**

 **"Stay put. Nice," he sits back for a moment and the bot moves again as Tony gets back to work, "You're of no benefit at all. Move down to the toe. I got this."**

 **Dummy makes a noise that could most likely be interpreted as a sad noise, as he moves lower, bumping his creator's hand as he goes.**

 **"Okay, I'm sorry, am I in your way?" He questions, though he knows he'll get no answer, and moves down to the toe of the boot himself, where the bot is, again, in the way, "Up. Screw it. Don't even move. You… are a tragedy." He states simply as he finishes his work, blowing on the soldering iron and stamping it on a sponge like object before putting it away. He presses a button on the boot and the calf opens up in the back.**

"You're so mean to it," The super soldier in the room notes, internally wondering why he's feeling bad for a robotic arm.

"Him; Dummy is a 'him,' Steven. He's an AI, a dumb one, but an AI," Tony corrects him, pointing a stern finger in his direction.

 **The next scene is being shot out of a video camera, showing Tony on a black gridded platform, the newly created Mark II boots on his feet, and a set of controllers in his hands, all hooked up with wires to the arc reactor in his chest.**

 **"Okay, let's do this right," He says, stepping back, his metal clad feet making loud, heavy footsteps, "Start mark, half a meter, and back and center." He takes a deep breath and looks over at one of his bots, "Dummy, look alive. You're on standby for fire safety." The view changes so it's no longer being shot through a video recorder, instead revealing a second bot, "You, roll it."**

"This isn't going to end well," Natasha smirks, leaning back in her chair and propping her feet up on Tony's lap, settling in to enjoy the show.

 **The view switches back to the recorder as Tony is adjusting something on his belt, "Okay, activate hand controls." He shifts a little in the boots as the machines begin to work, "We're gonna start off nice and easy. We're gonna see if 10% thrust capacity achieves lift."**

 **"And three,"**

 **"Two,"**

 **"One."**

 **The repulsors in the boots come to life, sending Tony into the air and back, taking his feet out from under him. He's pushed back until he's upside down and his front collides with the wall behind him. The repulsors stop and he falls to the ground with a pained grunt, where Dummy immediately sprays him with the fire extinguisher.**

The entire room has burst out laughing, even Fury. Clint is doubled over on the ground, cackling like a mad man at the billionaire's misfortune. Thor is letting out hearty, booming laughs while clapping the super soldier on the shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah; laugh it up." Tony grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

After another minute or two, the laughing finally dies down, the archer returning to his seat as he wipes a tear from his eye.

"Oh man, can we watch it again? Please tell me Loki is letting us rewind. Rewind, rewind!" He makes grabby hands for the remote and rewinds the movie. When the scene plays out again, everyone falls into a fit of laughter for the second time.

"Okay, okay. Now we can continue," Clint states proudly.


	9. Chapter 9: It's a Flight Stabilizer

**A/N: Hello~ sorry for the slightly longer wait. Juggling a lot of school projects lately, plus writing these stories. I promise I'm doing my best, I just don't want to half-ass these chapters. I want them to be good and I want to have time to edit and revise them before I post them. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy and please comment your thoughts. -Airbrushed**

* * *

 **Tony is seated at his desk once again, his monitors displaying designs for what appears to be the digital schematics for the arm's repulsors. He's typing furiously, making adjustments here and there, only pausing to sip his coffee, but even then he continues typing with his one free hand, his eyes never leaving the screen.**

 **Back at his hologram table, he's using his pen that controls the position and movements of the holograms, swinging a spherical object around and setting in the correct position on the internal design. He clicks the pen once and shoves it into his pocket, taking a step forward and moving his arm into the holographic armor design. His finger taps the table before he moves his arm so that it's face up, the holograms moving with him to reveal the flight stabilizing repulsor resting in his palm.**

"You can do that with your holograms?" Steve raises and eyebrow, "I mean, I know you can _now,_ but even back then?"

"Well, _I_ could. I've always been a little bit ahead of the curve, but the ones you see there aren't nearly as advanced as the ones I have now," Tony pulls his phone from his pocket, pressing the screen here and there before a holographic display of the latest Iron Man armor appears, rotating just above the phone screen. "Took me a bit, but eventually I got it to work on my personal phone."

The rest of the team gazes at the spinning design, impressed but not surprised. Steve stares for a moment before reaching into his own pocket to retrieve the Stark Phone that Tony had given him, "Does mine do that?"

"It can," Tony extends his arm for Steve's phone, which the blonde willingly hands over. A few taps and swipes later, and a holographic display of the Captain's shield can be seen hovering above the small screen. "I had it turned it off for the time being, just until you got used to using the basic features. Turned it off on Thor's, too, but you guys are the only people with Stark Phones that can do that."

The soldier seems to consider this for a moment when the genius returns to him his phone, "Why's that?"

Tony sighs, turning the Iron Man armor hologram off and putting his phone back into his pocket, "The world isn't ready for that kind of technology. There are still people getting used to owning regular smart phones, believe it or not. It may not seem like it, but all these technological advancements are still fairly new, and people need time to adjust before you throw advanced interactive holograms in their faces." He shrugs and leans back in his seat, "Would I be wrong to assume that you yourself felt a bit overwhelmed by all the technology SHIELD shoved at you when you first woke up?"

The soldier shakes his head, to which Tony replies, "Exactly. People just need time; baby steps. We can focus on other things, hence Stark Industries involvement in clean energy. Now can we get back to the movie? This is taking so much longer than it should be."

 **The view switches to reveal the now assembled framework of the Iron Man arm, with Tony's arm resting inside of it as he closes the frame over his forearm and biceps. There are wires running from his arc reactor to the arm, giving it the power it needs to work. He makes a few tweaks with his tool, glancing over his shoulder at Pepper as she keys into the lab, a box with a coffee mug atop it resting in her hand, before he turns back to his work.**

 **"Up two… alright, set that."**

 **"I've been buzzing you. Did you hear the intercom?" The strawberry blonde inquires as she makes her way further into the workshop.**

"Is that even a question? It's like you've gone deaf once you've entered inventing mode," the assassin informs with a slight smile.

The engineer huffs dramatically, crossing his arms defensively over his chest, "Excuse me, Agent Romanoff, I prefer the term _selective hearing_."

She sighs and ruffles his hair, "Whatever you need to tell yourself, Shellhead."

"Stop doing that!" he swats her hands away, though is grinning despite himself as he runs a hand through his now messy hair in a half-assed attempt to fix it.

 **Tony, obviously not paying attention, begins to answer, "Yeah everything's… what?"**

 **Not surprised by the genius' attention span, Pepper simply sets the box and coffee on one of the workbenches as she answers, "Obadiah's upstairs."**

There's a round of groaning from the group.

"I don't think I like that guy," Bruce notes, more to himself than the others.

 **"Great-"**

 **"What would you like me to tell him?"**

 **"Great," He repeats before answering her question, "I'll be right up." He places his free hand beneath the armor framework and lifts it up as gently as he can, grunting a slight, "Okay."**

 **Pepper seems to take notice of what he's doing now, taking a few steps closer and fixing him with a glare, "I thought you said you were done making weapons?"**

"Not a weapon," Tony corrects matter-of-factly.

 **"It isn't," He states with a roll of his shoulder, "This is a flight stabilizer," He explains as he reaches forward and presses a button on the table. There's a faint whirring sound as he reassures her, "It's completely harmless." Just then, the stabilizer activates, shooting out from his palm and sending the mad genius flying back into a shelf.**

 **Pepper winces and covers her ears at the sound of tools and supplies crashing and clattering to the ground, before turning back to stare at the genius as he gives his weak explanation.**

 **"I didn't expect that."**

Again the team bursts out laughing, though it wasn't as funny as before, the movie pauses nonetheless, allowing them their moment. Tony just grumbles in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

Thor grins through his echoing laughter, clapping the billionaire on the shoulder, "Friend Stark! I apologize for laughing at your misfortune!"

"Don't apologize unless you mean it, Goldilocks."

Thor just nods and keeps smiling, which, in turn, causes Tony to smile because honestly, the guy's like a golden retriever; always happy and completely oblivious.

When the laughter finally dies down, Bruce just sighs and gives a half hearted suggestion, "I think we need to take you back to Lab Safety 101."

"Please, lab safety is my specialty. I put dummy on fire safety, didn't I?" Tony reasons, but upon receiving a room full of incredulous stares, he caves, "okay, maybe."

 **Someone is playing the piano as Tony makes his way up the stairs from his workshop. There's an expensive looking statue sitting to the right of the steps, with a glass divider that has a stream of water flowing down it just behind it. The billionaire is free of the armor framework and the harness that had been around the arc reactor. He's left with blue jeans a light grey T-shirt covered in oil stains with a hole cut from the center, displaying the reactor.**

"Why do you cut holes for the arc?" the soldier questions, effectively causing the movie to pause itself.

"I think you mean, 'Why _did_ you?' I don't do it anymore," Tony corrects with a shake of his head, "Too risky, but it was definitely more comfortable. If my hunch is correct, though, you'll find out why a bit later."

 **"How'd it go?" He questions as he makes his way further into the room.**

 **Obadiah is revealed to be the pianist, though he only spares a glance at the genius before he returns to playing.**

 **Pepper is seated on the couch surrounded by papers and typing on her laptop, but it's the pizza box on the table catches Tony's eye, "It went that bad, huh?"**

 **"Just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad," The older man states, his gaze never leaving the keys as he continues his playing.**

"Why is pizza a bad thing? That should have been like a godsend at that point," Clint chuckles, briefly making eye contact with the billionaire.

Tony shrugs, "True; it _was_ really good pizza. But whenever he brings- _brought_ \- gifts, it usually meant something bad happened; he used them like a pacifier."

"Smart," Natasha states, accompanied by a shrug of her shoulders, "You're a sucker for new toys; even if that toy is pizza."

Surprisingly, Tony just smirks rather than arguing the point, "That is also true."

 **"Uh huh, sure doesn't," Tony states sarcastically as he opens the lid of the box, "Oh boy," He sighs as he reaches for a piece.**

 **"It would have gone better if you were there," Obadiah says once he's finished playing, reaching for his drink instead.**

 **"Nuh uh," the billionaire mumbles through a bite of pizza as he glances over at his business partner, who is now rising from the piano bench, "You told me to lay low; that's what I've been doing," the mechanic reasons, snagging a napkin and waving it around as he speaks, "I lay low and you take care of all…" He trails off, wiping his mouth with the napkin.**

 **"Hey, come on," Obadiah interrupts him as he makes his way over to the genius, "In public, the press. This was a board of directors meeting," He states simply as he takes a seat next to Tony.**

 **That seems to catch Tony's attention, as he turns to Obadiah with a slightly surprised expression, "This was… this was a board of directors meeting?"**

 **Tony continues eating his pizza as the older man begins to explain, speaking as if Tony were a child, "The board is claiming you have post-traumatic stress. They're filing an injunction."**

 **"A what?" Tony questions disbelievingly.**

 **"They want to lock you out."**

"What?!" everyone in the conference shouts at almost the same time.

 **"Why? Because the stocks dipped 40 points? We** ** _knew_** **that was going to happen," He says, pointing an accusing finger at his partner.**

 **"Fifty six and a half," Pepper corrects him.**

"Not helping, Pepper," Natasha sighs from her seat.

 **"It doesn't matter," Tony argues, his voice rising just slightly as he turns to look at Pepper, "We own the controlling interest in the company."**

 **"Tony, the board has rights, too," Obadiah points out, drawing the billionaire's attention back to him, "They're making the case that you and your new direction isn't in the company's best interest."**

"Can they even do that?" Clint shoots a questionable look toward the genius, who shakes his head.

"Technically? No. The only person who would have had the authority to do that _is_ Obadiah," Tony explains, receiving a round of 'Ohh's' and a 'That _fucker_ ' from the archer.

"I _knew_ there was something off about that guy," Steve grumbles, pointing an accusing finger at the bald man on the paused screen.

 **"I'm being responsible! That's a new direction… for me. For the company," Tony counters between bites. At Obie's open-mouthed, incredulous stare, he struggles a bit with the words and makes haste to correct himself, "I mean, me on the company's behalf, being responsible for the way that…"**

 **Pepper sighs, giving him an equally exasperated stare before he finally gives up, "Oh, this great." He stands abruptly and snags the pizza box.**

 **"Oh, come on. Tony. Tony." Obie calls after him before taking a quick sip of his drink.**

 **"I'll be in the shop," the annoyed mechanic supplies as he makes away with the pizza.**

 **"Hey, hey! Hey, Tony, listen," Obadiah says as he gets up and follows the genius, grabbing his shoulder and turning him to face him, "I'm trying to turn this thing around, but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch them."**

"Oh, he better not say what I think he's going to say," Fury grumbles from his spot, receiving a round of nodding in agreement.

"Don't hold your breath," Tony mumbles, though not quietly enough for Steve to miss it.

 **Obadiah points to the arc reactor poking through the hole cut in Tony's shirt, before continuing, "Let me have the engineers analyze that. You know, draw up some specs."**

 **"No," Tony immediately declines, much to Obadiah's displeasure, "No, absolutely not."**

 **"It'll give me a bone to throw the boys in New York!" He argues, raising his voice.**

 **"This one stays with me. That's it, Obie. Forget it." Tony says, effectively ending the discussion as he resumes walking away.**

 **"Alright, well this stays with me, then," Obadiah snags the pizza box from the genius, opening up the lid, "Go on, here you can have a piece. Take two."**

 **"Thank you," Tony states simply, his hand reaching into the frame to snatch the slices.**

 **"You mind if I come down there and see what you're doing?" The older man calls after the retreating genius.**

 **"** **Good night, Obie."**


	10. Chapter 10: Kill Power

**A/N: Hello~ I am so sorry. That was like a week and I usually post sooner than that, but I was busy. I hope you like this chapter; please comment your thoughts!~ Airbrushed**

* * *

 **The camera pans around You's frame as Tony addresses the camera the bot is holding, "Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0."**

 **He's back in the 'test zone' of his lab, the boots once again strapped to his feet, and the new flight stabilizers over his arms. He has wires connecting the armor parts to the arc reactor in his chest, glowing brighter as it powers the parts.**

 **He glances back at Dummy, "For lack of a better option, Dummy is still on fire safety." He points a firm finger at the whirring robotic arm, "If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college," the bot gives a sad whir of understanding a droops its' 'head.'**

"Poor Dummy," Bruce sighs, smiling a little at the sight of the rather expressive bot on screen.

 **Looking through You's camera, Tony shifts somewhat nervously in the repulsor boots, "All right, nice and easy," He holds his hands out to his sides, palms down, "Seriously… just going to start off with 1% thrust capacity."**

Clint snorts and leans forward in his seat, along with the rest of the room, "This is going to be good."

 **He takes a deep breath, his shoulders following the motion before he's finally ready, "And three, two, one."**

 **The repulsors in the boots and the in the palms of his hands activate, pushing him off the ground and allowing him to hover in the air. He stays like that for a minute, getting a feel for the sensation before he drops back down, breathing out an, "Okay."**

The Avengers start to clap, cheering at their friends well earned success.

Thor claps Tony on the shoulder, probably a bit too hard, but Tony's never one to take a shit on the guy's enthusiasm.

"Aye, I congratulate you on your accomplishments, friend Anthony!" He exclaims with the derpiest smile the genius has ever seen.

He grins back anyway, patting the god on his impossibly muscular arm, "Thanks, Hammer-time, but this was years ago, you know that right?"

"Aye, but it is a success nonetheless!"

Tony just huffs out a laugh and shakes his head, "Right."

 **He looks over his shoulder at Dummy, taking a step or two to face the bot before addressing him, "Please don't follow me around with it, either, 'cause I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously," he explains, much to the bots displeasure, "Just stand down. If something happens, then come in."**

The soldier furrows his brow before his lips curve into an amused smirk, "Has that happened to you before? Because it wouldn't surprise me if it did, to be honest."

"What, spontaneously catch fire? Basically on a daily basis-" out of the corner of his eye, the genius catches Bruce giving him a disapproving glare, so he immediately corrects himself, clearing his throat, "Uh, I mean. Not often. Nope."

"Uh huh…" Bruce raises an eyebrow, not buying it.

"Okay fine, but it's almost _always_ Dummy's fault!" Tony points out, to which Bruce just sighs and gives him a look that tells him they are _not done with this discussion_ , but he secretly knows that they are because Bruce is his science bro and Tony has more than enough dirt on him in terms of lab safety.

So _there._

 **The view is no longer being shot from You's camera as Tony prepares himself for another test, "And again, let's bring it up to 2.5," he shifts a little in the boots again but seems much more confident this time around, "Three, two, one."**

 **The repulsors activate once again, this time with a bit more force, propelling Tony a little bit higher than the previous test. You's camera zooms in on his creator as he tries to steady himself, before the view is no longer shown through the bot. The repulsor boots are shown up close, the machinery hissing as it keeps Tony in the air. Having little experience flying, the genius starts to shift backwards, away from the testing area. He grunts a little as he tries to adjust his limbs so as to return to where he started, but instead moves over to his row of cars.**

Clint gapes and holds his breath, his eyes fixed on the row of cars, full of longing, "Not the cars… _please_ not the cars!"

 **"Okay, this is where I don't want to be!" He grunts again, trying to keep the repulsor blasts as far from the expensive cars as possible, "Not the car, not the car! Yikes!"**

 **"Table!" he continues his path over the vehicles and over one of his desks, sending papers flying around the room. As he approaches the wall he throws his hands out in front of him to stop the forward motion. It sends him back the way he came, the hand repulsors flickering once or twice. He gives a sort of hysteric, nervous laugh as he moves over the table again, yelling out reassurances to himself, "Could be worse! Could be worse, we're fine! Okay!"**

"Please tell me the cars are oka- OW! What the hell, Nat?!"

"Shut up about the cars," she states with a glare, expertly twirling a knife between her fingers.

Tony swallows hard, realizing for the first time how close he's sitting to the _world's deadliest assassin_ , and subtly scoots a little farther away, because _where the hell did that knife even come from?_

 **He flies back to the starting point, finally starting to get a hang of the motions. He brings his hands to his sides, careful to keep his palms down, and pulls his legs together. He does a slight spin as he slowly makes his descent. The repulsors cut out and he lets himself fall the remainder of the short distance, the boots sparking as he hits the ground and stumbles to find his balance.**

 **He lets out an exhilarating sigh, turning back to face Dummy, who is raising his head, ready to do his job as fire safety.**

 **Tony holds up his hand, "NO, ah ah ah ah!" the bots gives a sad whir and lowers his head, "Yeah, I can fly."**

"You know, if dummy is such a bad helper, why don't you just fix him?" Bruce questions, grinning at the little robotic arm on screen.

"I could," Tony says with a shrug, "but he's kind of stubborn and he hates maintenance, and if I fixed him he just wouldn't be Dummy anymore. Believe it or not, yelling at that worthless pile of scrap metal makes my day. Plus, it's fun to watch him learn," he points out, then, as an afterthought, he adds, "on the rare occasions he actually _does_."

"It's still weird to me that a computer can _learn_ ," Steve speaks up, rubbing the back of his neck, "Jarvis scared the living daylights out of me the first time."

Tony grins at the memory of Steve jumping nearly a foot off the ground when the smooth tones of the disembodied voice introduced himself to the Captain for the first time.

 _Good times._

 **The scene switches and Tony steps forward, once again wearing the repulsor boots. This time, though, a set of robot arms come from the front and back, and attach a silver covering around the framework. A joint is being screwed in at the elbow, locking the armor into place.**

 **An armor clad hand reaches forward and snags the mask of the suit, bringing it closer to the billionaire's face, "Jarvis, you there?"**

 **The face plate is attached, and the eye slits glow a pale blue as the AI responds,** ** _"At your service, Sir."_**

 **Tony's face is seen from the view inside the helmet , the HUD scanning his facial features and lighting up with information, "Engage heads up display."**

"I've always wondered what it looks like in there," Natasha hums thoughtfully, still twirling her knife.

"Seems a little hard on the eyes," Fury comments, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tony tries. He really does.

But he just can't resist.

"It's not so bad, though _you_ might've ended up needing a second eye patch over there, Patches."

Without even turning his head, the director glares at him with his one good eye.

It should probably freak Tony out; really, it should. But he's been on the receiving end of that look for years; it's hardly even threat. So instead he flashes his shit eating _'fuck you, I'm Tony Stark'_ grin.

That's when Fury makes to get out of his seat, only to be sent straight back into his seat when a knife zips past his head, slicing into the wall behind.

All eyes turn to Natasha, who simply arches an eyebrow and _damn_ , that woman is _absolutely terrifying._

 ** _"Check,"_** **Jarvis responds as the HUD continues to flash with data and calculations.**

 **"Import all preferences from home interface," Tony says as the view switches to reveal his point of view, the suit scanning the workshop with remarkable detail.**

 ** _"Will do, Sir,"_** **Jarvis scans the work benches and Tony's expensive cars, along with the exit ramp of the garage. Inside the suit, Tony is looking left to right, letting Jarvis set everything up.**

"That's a really thorough scan," Bruce points out.

"Yeah, well it helps Jarvis out and it makes it easier for me to run calculations," Tony supplies with a nonchalant flick of the wrist.

 **"Alright, what do you say?"**

 ** _"I have indeed been uploaded, Sir. We're online and ready."_**

 **"Can we start the virtual walk-around?" Tony inquires as a display of the armor appears on the HUD, enlarging off to the side.**

 ** _"Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment."_**

 **Tony allows for a slight quirk of his lips, "Do a check on control surfaces."**

 **A display of the leg of the armor appears on the screen,** ** _"As you wish."_**

 **Music starts playing when the camera reveals the full exterior of the suit, the calves and knees of the armor open up and out, checking the flexibility and movement of the parts. Next are the thighs, arms, and back; the pieces flipping out and showing off the advanced mechanics of the suit. Tony flexes his left hand before the camera shows the right arm, a hidden slot opening up in the bicep and closing again. Last are the shoulders and neck, the camera panning around and showing off the glimmering silver armor as the genius turns his head from side to side.**

"Again with the fitting music," Natasha points out, receiving a nod from the rest of the group as they admire the armor.

"Damn. I know that's only your second model, but…" Clint trails off, eyeing the Mark II with almost childish glee.

Tony is giving the suit a similar look, leaning forward and resting his head in his hands, letting out an appreciative sigh, "Isn't she beautiful?"

Natasha scoffs, allowing for an amused smirk at the sight of her swooning team mates.

 **The camera zooms in from the front, arc reactor and eye slits glowing brightly as Tony flexes his fingers again. Jarvis' voice cuts in,** ** _"Test complete; preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."_**

 **"Uh, yeah…"**

Steve groans, "Oh no. I know that look. That's your _'I know that what I'm about to do is incredibly stupid but I'm going to do it anyways'_ look."

Tony looks mock offended, hand held to the arc reactor in his chest as if the words physically pained him, "I do _not_ have that look! Besides, it's never _that_ stupid; I calculate the risks."

"Aye," Thor chimes in, clapping Tony on the shoulder again, and _seriously, Thor, ow_ , "we have heard this explanation many times, Man of Iron. Would it surprise you to hear that it is not very reassuring?"

Tony grumbles and slouches in his chair, "You were _supposed_ to be on my team, Point Break."

 **Inside the suit, the HUD continues to supply information in a glowing blue, "Tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check. Start listening in on ground control," Tony commands with the faintest of smiles, the HUD displaying the locations of nearby planes, the lights glistening in the genius' eyes.**

 **"Sir," Jarvis' somehow worried voice responds, the point of view from the suit showing a holographic display of the landscape outside the garage and the planes in the air, "there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-"**

 **"Jarvis," Tony cuts him off, sounding like a parent lecturing his child, "Sometimes you got to run, before you can walk."**

"That literally makes no sense," Clint points out, and remarkably, Natasha doesn't hit him this time.

"It does _so_ make sense!" Tony defends, jabbing a finger in the archer's direction.

 **The camera pans out from the front, showing off the silver plated armor, "Ready?" Tony straightens up inside the suit, his feet moving closer together and his hands palm down at his sides, "In three, two, one."**

 **The repulsor boots come to life, instantly lifting the genius a half a foot off the ground. He's a bit unsteady, but leans forward nonetheless, the mechanics of the suit whirring as he shoots forwards and out the garage ramp, skimming the cement of the exit with an exhilarating yell that fades into a crazed laugh.**

Tony catches Natasha grinning out of the corner of his eye, and he casts her a knowing smirk.

"What? You're like a giddy little kid," she explains, the smile still on her face even if it has weakened slightly.

 **"WOO!" Tony yells again, the camera capturing the pure exuberance in the billionaire's features. There's a brief shot of the back of the suit as the flaps positioned on the shoulders work to steady the flight, the repulsors seen thrusting and glowing below.**

 **The camera zooms out a bit just as Tony spins and twists in the air, doing his best to level out the flight. Finally he gets the hang of it, his face ecstatic as he gasps from the adrenaline rush.**

"Best. First. Flight _. Ever_." Tony is beaming, and he probably looks like an idiot because Thor is beaming too, but he couldn't care less right now, "Don't let Jarvis tell you differently, he can't get adrenaline rushes; he doesn't know what he's talking about."

 **Through the helmet's view, the screen is shown locking onto the horizon, before the view zooms out again, the Malibu home disappearing in the distance.**

 **"Handles like a dream," Tony notes, zooming out of frame, only for it to refocus from the helmet's view again. The music is much more pronounced now as the HUD focuses on a Farris wheel, particularly a little kid eating ice cream. Upon spotting the armor, the kids eyes go wide and the scoop of ice cream falls from his cone.**

There's a round of chuckling, and Tony swears he can hear Steve say very quietly to himself, _"Awe, not the ice cream!"_

 **Zipping over the skyline and through the clouds, the city lights shining beneath him, Tony abruptly changes direction, shooting skyward.**

 **"Alright, let's see what this thing can do," he addresses Jarvis as the view reveals him inside the suit again, "What's SR-71's record?"**

 **As Jarvis responds, the HUD is shown again, the moon visible above as an image of 'SR-71 Blackbird' appearing to the right as the billionaire continues to gain altitude, "The altitude record for fixed wing flight is 85,000 feet, Sir."**

 **"Records are made to be broken! Come on!" Tony shouts as the suit continues its' ascent.**

"Anddd, here we go," Clint sighs, though he's still smiling at the screen.

"Cue the _'I know that what I'm about to do is incredibly stupid but I'm going to do it anyways'_ look," Steve says, earning a round of laughing from the group.

"Why must you choose _now_ to get a sense of humor?" Tony grumbles from his seat.

 **"Sir," the AI speaks up again, the HUD flashing red with warnings, "there is a potentially fatal build up of ice occurring."**

"Shouldn't a worried Jarvis have been warning enough?" Bruce sighs, shaking his head at the screen.

 **Completely ignoring that bit of information in favor of breaking the record, the suit continues to shoot upwards, "Keep going!"**

" _Don't_ keep going," Clint corrects onscreen tony.

 **The metal is beginning to creak and groan from the restricting ice, but still Tony keeps going, "Higher!"**

"Lower," Natasha exhales, now flipping her knife up and down.

 **The repulsor boots spark and die simultaneously, the glowing eyes of the helmet fading out, briefly revealing the genius' eyes inside before the climb stops, and the suit begins to plummet back to earth.**

 **Tony screams as the world spins through what little vision he has through the eye slits, "We iced up, Jarvis! Deploy flaps!"**

 **There's no reply, so the billionaire tries again just as the suit is falling out of the frame, "JARVIS!?"**

The team is suddenly on the edge of their seats. They know their friend is fine, because he's sitting right next to them, obviously, but they've seen him falling from the sky before. It's not fun to watch knowing that they can't do anything about it.

Steve, Bruce, and Clint are holding their breath, while Thor is squeezing Mjolnir's handle in a white-knuckled grip. Natasha has ceased twirling her knife and is eyeing the screen, similar to Fury.

Tony is simply sitting there, trying not to think about falling, and the battle of New York, and wormholes, because those are not fun.

At all.

So when he feels Natasha subtly give his hand a reassuring squeeze, well, he doesn't say anything; because he knows that she wouldn't want him to. Instead, he gives a quick squeeze in return, before allowing her to pull her hand away once again.

 **In a final attempt, Tony manages to turn his body belly down, slowing the fall only slightly, "Come on, we gotta break the ice!"**

 **He scratches at a circular spot on his upper thigh, chipping away at the ice and manually twisting the circle. The flaps on the back of the armor flip open, breaking through more ice and slowing the descent a little bit more.**

 **The eyes light up again, the mechanics beginning to groan as the suit powers on. The HUD comes to life again, hundreds of images and code flashing over the screen as Tony continues the fall, the ground approaching worryingly fast.**

"Come on…" Steve mumbles encouragingly under his breath, watching the screen with a measuring eye.

 **Suddenly, the repuslor boots come back, just in time to avoid crashing to the street. A car beeps and swerves out of the way just nearly missing the metal suit.**

 **Rising into the air again, Tony breaks into a toothy smile and lets out an exhilarating half-yell-half laugh for his success, "YEAHAHAHA!"**

As disapproving of Tony's dangerous stunt as the group was, they all cheer with him, clapping and laughing off the tension that had fallen over the room.

"Damn Stark, you have some really white teeth," Clint notes with a smirk upon seeing the adrenaline-induced grin of the genius onscreen.

Tony simply flashes the archer his trademark smile, showing off his 'pearly whites.'

Natasha rolls her eyes, flicking him on the forehead.

"Ow! How come you're hitting me now?!" Tony complains, rubbing his forehead.

The assassin only shrugs and turns back to the TV.

 **Tony soars over the ocean as he approaches the Malibu home again, shooting a little higher into the air to get to the roof. He hovers over it, the armor swaying back and forth before he manages to steady it.**

 **"Kill power."**

 **The eccentric genius drops through the roof, crushing the piano and dropping through the ceiling of his workshop, right on top of one of his very expensive cars.**

 **The car alarms go off as the debris settles, Tony remaining in his spot atop his demolished vehicle. Dummy helpfully turns to face him, spraying him with the fire extinguisher, his creator leaning his head back in either pain or exasperation at his incompetent bot.**

The Avengers and Fury burst out laughing again; even Tony is smiling at his little bot.

All are smiling except Clint, who has sunk to his knees on his floor, gripping his hair in despair upon seeing the annihilation of the vehicle.

This, in turn, fuels the laughter, Steve offering a reassuring pat on the archer's back, and giving him an amused, "You'll live."

Looking around at all the smiling faces of his team mates, save Fury and maybe Natasha because she never completely _smiles_ , he can't help but wonder what Loki is hoping to gain from all of this.


	11. Chapter 11: Thrill me

**A/N: Hello~ Sorry I'm late... again. I've had a crazy week. We're taking a trip over spring break so we've had a lot of shopping and such to do, and I had a college tour to attend today, not to mention the mounds of homework I've received all week. Thank you guys for being understanding. I know a lot of you have been waiting to see the party scene, and I apologize that I didn't get to it but I felt like I needed to post something.** ** _I'm also sad to say that I won't be able to post this coming week._** **We're going to be out of town and my laptop actually dies if it's not plugged in because it's a piece of crap and I'm still saving for a new one, so I won't be taking it with me. Again I apologize, but please enjoy this chapter nonetheless.**

 **~Airbrushed. 3**

* * *

 **The billionaire is in his lab, the armor gone in favor of an icepack being pressed to his head. He kicks aside a creeper without much thought, making his way towards the mug of coffee left atop a box, previously left by Pepper. He grabs the coffee and continues his walk forward, soon stopping in his tracks and furrowing his brow in curiosity. He removes the ice pack from his head and looks back at the box.**

 **There's nothing special about it; just simple and brown, with a sticky note attached to the top.**

"I do not understand…" Thor states, not for the first time, though he isn't wrong. No one seems to really know what's in the box, save for Tony and maybe even Natasha.

 **He turns back, setting his coffee and ice aside.**

 **"From Pepper," the note reads, written neatly in blue.**

 **He tosses the note aside and begins tearing at the brown wrapping.**

 **He finally pulls it away, revealing a glass display case with the original arc reactor displayed proudly within. He picks it up almost gingerly, the gentle humming of the machinery audible even through the glass as he reads the words engraved on the ring surrounding the blue glow.**

 **'Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.'**

 **The man himself is eyeing the gift with a bit of fondness, the corner of his lips quirking up just the slightest bit.**

"Awe!" The room says in unison, drawing out the syllables and turning to the genius with gushing eyes.

Tony doesn't grumble in annoyance, but instead is smiling, just a little, despite himself.

"That was actually… really sweet," Steve announces with a bit of finality, for whatever reason.

"Best gift I ever got," Tony states simply with a nod, refusing to elaborate on his statement. That discussion was for another time; perhaps after he's dead, because it's never going to happen.

 **The happy moment was soon over as the camera begins to pan to the side, the view becoming increasingly darker. Voices are heard until the view reveals two men, both leaning over the scraps of the Mark I. The one on the left is holding Tony's abandoned blue prints and the one on the right is discussing where the piece in his hand goes.**

"Fucking dumbasses," Tony grumbles, eyeing the poor assembly, "That isn't where it goes, stupid."

"At least they got the helmet right," Clint points out.

Tony snorts and shakes his head, "Well, I'm relieved to know they at least understand what a head is."

 **The angle changes, revealing the somewhat reassembled Mark I, though not yet put back together. Raza is standing over it, a cigarette resting between his fingers and a scowl on his burned face.**

"Someone doesn't look very happy," Steve says, a bit uneasy.

"What's with this guy and his rings?" Clint asks, gesturing to the giant ring around the man's finger.

And then Natasha Romanoff, _the_ _Black Widow_ , actually face palms. "The Ten Rings," she deadpans, refusing to meet her best friend's eye in his moment of stupidity.

"Oh," the archer states somewhat sheepishly, shrinking in his seat, "right."

 **Back to the suit, the camera zooms in on the intimidating mask, which soon fades to the new and improved helmet on a computer screen.**

 **"Notes; main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude," Tony says to Jarvis as he leans back in his desk chair. There's an ice pack taped to his shoulder and he's twirling a rag in his hands. "Hull pressurization is problematic. I'm thinking icing…" he sits up with a wince, somewhat stiff from his injuries, "is the probable factor."**

 ** _"A very astute observation, Sir,"_** **comes Jarvis' snarky reply, just like his creator, "Perhaps if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems."**

No one says anything, but they've each acquired a slight grin at the sarcastic attitude of the AI, who has no doubt learned it from the one and only Tony Stark.

 **Ignoring him, Tony turns in his chair to face a different screen, having snagged a glass of green…** ** _sludge_** **… from his desk, "Connect to the sys. Co. Have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold-titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?" He raises the glass to his lips taking a sip as Jarvis processes the information.**

"Uh, what?" Clint asks, glances between the two geniuses in the room for an explanation.

"He's basically asking Jarvis to use the same gold-titanium alloy that the satellites use, so that the suit won't ice up at high altitudes," Bruce supplies helpfully.

Tony nods in approval, "Pretty much what he said, except, you know, dumbed down."

 ** _"Yes. Shall I render using proposed specifications?"_** **The AI inquires.**

 **"Thrill me."**

 **The genius spins in his chair to face the TV as Jarvis begins the render on the nearby screen, the beginnings of a gold suit becoming more apparent. Tony is tuning into what the woman on TV is saying while he waits for his AI to finish his task.**

 **"Tonight's red-hot red carpet is right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighter's Family Fund has become the place to be for L.A's high society," the blonde reporter is saying as Tony sits alone at his desk, brows slightly furrowed.**

 **"Jarvis, we get an invite for that?" He questions, leaning a bit to see past his monitors before picking up the face plate of the armor on his desk.**

 ** _"I have no record of an invitation, Sir."_**

"Not invited to your own event?" Natasha asks; her tone calculating and her eyes observational.

"Nope; I'm sure you'll find out why later on," the genius states with a shrug.

 **"… hasn't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial press conference," the woman is saying as Tony is turning the mask in his hands, before finally holding it up to his face and looking at the television through the eye slits.**

 **The front of mask is shown, calculations and notes written on its' surface as the reporter speaks, "Some claim he's suffering from post-traumatic-stress and has been bed ridden for weeks."**

Tony visibly shrinks into himself a bit, because while the bed ridden part may have been false, the PTSD comment isn't exactly wrong. It really wasn't bad in the beginning though.

Sure, maybe he had some difficult days, but as long as he was at home he knew he was relatively safe. He had Jarvis and his other machines to look after him, not to mention Pepper, and he had a mission to accomplish. At the time, it was more than enough to keep his mind otherwise occupied.

 **The genius removes the mask, his face taken that of slightly troubled as the TV shows an image from the press conference.**

 **"Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight."**

Clint smirks and leans back in his seat, "Just jinxed it, lady."

 **Tony grimaces at the news story, but makes no comment as Jarvis speaks up, the camera focusing in on the monitor where the armor's render is finishing up.**

 ** _"The render is complete."_**

 **"A little ostentatious, don't you think?" Tony asks, not really caring either way as he reaches for his smoothie glass and the pitcher.**

 **"What was I thinking? You're usually so discreet," Jarvis quips.**

Steve lets out a huff of laughter, as does Clint and Natasha. It still amazes the soldier that a computer has the ability to learn and adapt.

"I see that AI of yours has always been a bit… well, like you," The Director notes, thinking back to when the genius had Jarvis hack into SHIELD's secure files.

"Hey, you can shit talk me all you want, but don't _ever_ talk shit about Jarvis. He is his own person, and well aware of it, thank you very _much,"_ Tony states in defense of his creation- no, his _friend_ -, crossing his arms over his chest.

 _"Indeed I am, Sir. Hello, by the way,"_ comes the smooth British voice from above, causing Tony to break into a grin.

The rest of the room jumps a bit in their seat, especially Steve and Thor, but they soon relax upon realizing who it is.

"Jarvis, honey cakes, what took you so long?" Tony questions, quirking an eyebrow in the general direction of the ceiling.

The Director clears his throat, his face twisted in annoyance, "I think the better question is; why does your damn AI have access to _my_ ship?"

Before Tony can respond, Jarvis helpfully supplies his own answer, _"Director Fury, as you know, it is my primary protocol to do what is best for Sir. When I could no longer speak with him via his mobile phone, and lost all other form of communication or tracking, I did what I felt needed to be done in order to locate him. In this case, it meant hacking into your 'ship.' Along the way I received readings of Asgardian 'magic' based on previously recorded data, and therefore made it my first obligation to reestablish communication with Sir."_

The mechanic simply grins, like a parent who just witnessed their child receiving their first award. He turns back to the Director, "What he said."

 _"Indeed,"_ Jarvis confirms before continuing, _"Are you alright, Sir? Your team?"_

"Yes, sweet roll, we're perfectly fine. Loki is making us watch a movie based on how I became Iron Man, that sly son of a bitch, but otherwise, I'm just peachy," He dismissively flicks his wrist.

Clint furrows his brow, looking back and forth between Tony and Natasha, before finally mouthing _"Sweet roll?"_ to the assassin, who in turn just shrugs.

 _"I have been attempting to open the door, but I'm afraid I cannot override whatever hold Loki has on it. I'll keep trying if you wish, but I'm afraid I do not know if I will be of much use,"_ the AI responds almost regretfully. After a quick scan of the disks' contents, he wishes he could be more helpful towards his creator, but magic is beyond his comprehension.

"It's alright, J. We'll figure it out," Tony states with a sigh before addressing his team, "Let's just finish this, okay?"

"Sure," Fury agrees, before practically growling out the second part of his statement, "Because as soon as we're done, you're getting your computer _out_ of my system."

 **Tony's doesn't comment at his expressive AI, because his eyes are fixed on the car he had been working on prior to his capture. "Tell you what," he looks back to his glass, pouring himself more of the smoothie, "Throw a little hot rod red in there."**

 ** _"Yes, that should help you keep a low profile."_**

 **Tony returns the pitcher to his desk as the monitor beside him starts to mix red in with the gold. Tony spins to look at it again as he takes a sip from his cup.**

 ** _"The render is complete,"_** **Jarvis states again.**

 **On the screen is the red and gold suit everyone knows and loves today.**

"There she is, boys," Tony states proudly as he ogles the Mark III, "and, uh, girl," he adds when he practically feels Natasha's glare.

 **"Yeah, I like it. Fabricate it. Paint it," He orders, setting aside the mask from before and grabbing his very expensive watch instead.**

 ** _"Commencing automated assembly, estimated completion time is 5 hours."_**

 **Looking at the time on his watch, Tony stands, "Don't wait up for me, honey."**


	12. Chapter 12: I would like a drink

**A/N: Hello~ Wow, so yeah, it's been a while. I'm so sorry, really. I was planning to update last week, but I got really sick. Like, I** ** _never_** **get sick, and I was so sick that I actually had to go to the doctor. I ended up missing a few days of school so I've been catching up and I just haven't had time. But I'm getting better and I finally got around to writing this chapter, and it's a little longer than usual to make up for the wait. Hope you enjoy, and please comment your thoughts.**

 **PS- TWO FUCKING WEEKS UNTIL CIVIL WAR. SO HYPE.**

 **#TEAMIRONMAN**

* * *

 **Zooming down the road is one of Tony's many sports cars, this one silver and obviously having obtained some personal upgrades, not to mention the license plate that read 'STARK4.'**

Clint wolf whistles, staring at the car with appreciative eyes.

Steve's brow furrows, "You number your cars?"

Tony snorts in laughter, "How else am I supposed to keep track of them?"

 **He's clearly breaking multiple traffic laws, but in the end, he simply pulls up to the curb of the concert hall, the hood speckled with droplets of water.**

 **Out steps Tony, handing off his keys to the red-vested valet-already waiting beside the car.**

 **He's dressed in a nice dress suit, and as he walks onto the red carpet the squealing voices and camera flashing is already being directed at him.**

"Someone cleans up nice. You do that yourself?" Natasha casts him an amused smirk.

"Of course I did! I'm not completely helpless- you weren't my secretary for that long, you know." He grins back at her before his features twist in confusion, "Wait, did you just complement me?"

She shrugs innocently, "No."

 **Obadiah is shown, clearly speaking to a reporter about the shutdown of Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing. "Weapons manufacturing is only a small part of what Stark Industries is all about," he's saying over the screaming, "And our partnership with the fire and rescue community…"**

 **He trails off and turns to look at what all the commotion is about.**

 **Sure enough, Tony Stark is seen walking up the red carpet, adjusting a button on his suit coat while photographers snap as many pictures as they can.**

"That's gotta get annoying," Fury comments, nearly shuddering at the thought of receiving all that attention.

 **A skimpy looking blonde sidles up to him, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, "Hey, Tony, remember me?"**

 **"Sure don't," he deadpans, barely sparing her a glance. As he continues through the crowd, he pats an elderly man on the back, who is surrounded by women, "You look great, Hef." The man turns briefly, taking his pipe out of his mouth as he does, but Tony is already gone.**

 **"What's the world coming to when a guy's got to crash his own party?" He asks as he makes his way over to Obadiah, who laughs half-heartedly and sizes Tony up, a bit disbelievingly.**

 **"Look at you," he drawls, "Hey, what a surprise!"**

"This guy needs to work on his 'I'm definitely up to something but no one can know about it' face, because seriously _\- everyone knows_ ," Clint intones, earning nods of agreement from the room at large.

 **"I'll see you inside," Tony says, patting Obie on the arm and already starting to walk away.**

 **"Uh, hey," Obie says, somewhat quieter, causing the brunette to stop and turn around, "Listen, take it slow, all right? I think I got the board right where we want them."**

"I think you mean where _you_ want them," Bruce corrects.

 **Tony gives a terse nod, "You got it," he says, beginning to walk away again, "Just cabin fever. I'll just be a minute."**

 **Inside the concert hall are tons of well dressed people; some dancing, some mingling, and others simply standing around the bar. The staff is clad in white suit coats and black bow ties, and can easily be spotted weaving through the crowd serving drinks and/or snacks, while others work the bar.**

Thor's contemplative look turns into a smile, and he claps Tony on the back, causing the brunette to wince, though it goes unnoticed. "This is quite the celebration, Man of Iron! You should attend one of the royal gatherings in Asgard sometime! The All-Father would be delighted to have you!"

"Okay, one- you need to be a bit gentler with the merchandise, alright there, big guy?" Tony requests, and continues to Thor's apologetic nod, "Second- that sounds awesome."

Clint clears his throat, "Ah, can I come?"

"Um, excuse you, Mr. Barton, but the All-Dad-"

"All-Father," Thor corrects.

"-All-Father- invited me, not you!"

"But-"

"Has no one ever taught you that it's rude to invite _yourself_ to places, Feathers?"

 _"Feathers?"_ Clint replies, sounding outraged, "I thought I told you to stop calling me that!"

"Sorry, my bad; do you prefer Bird-Br- _mnng_ ," Tony starts his witty retort but is cut off when a large hand is clasped over his mouth, effectively muffling his insult.

 _"Alright,"_ Steve says with finality, "You two can do this later. Now can we please just get back to- EW, Tony, what the hell?!" The soldier hastily removes his hand from the billionaire's mouth, eyeing his now wet palm, "Did you- Did you just _lick_ my _hand_?"

"Oh, please," Tony waves his off with an exaggerated roll of his eyes, "You fought in World War II and it's saliva that bothers you?"

"No, it's just- you just licked my hand!" He states defensively, holding up his palm as evidence and pointedly keeping it away from him as if it truly offends him.

"You're the one that put it over my _mouth_!"

"That doesn't mean you're required to lick me!" he leans forward and wipes it on the genius' shoulder, effectively using his shirt to clean it off.

"Rogers, I swear to God, sometimes you can be such a bab-"

"Are you _done_ yet?" Fury questions the two, obviously well past annoyed by now.

Tony's pretty sure there would be smoke coming out of his ears if that were actually possible.

"Yes," Natasha answers for them, "they're done." She shoots them each a glare and they both slump into their seats like 4 year olds and turn their attention back to the screen.

 **Onscreen, Tony (naturally) saunters up to the bar. He pulls some money out and addresses the bartender, "Give me a scotch. I'm starving."**

 **The bartender nods and Tony places the money in the glass on the counter when the man next to him speaks up.**

 **"Mr. Stark," Phil Coulson greets, turning to the man himself.**

"Phil!" They all shout in unison, except Tony, who shouts, "Agent!" But they're all glad to see their friend again.

Fury just shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

 **"Yuh-huh?"**

 **"Agent Coulson."**

 **Tony, now holding his scotch, nods in acknowledgement, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The guy from the…"**

 **"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Coulson finishes for him as Tony turns to face the crowd, leaning against the counter.**

 **Tony breathes out a sigh and shakes his head as he raises his scotch to his lips, "God, you need a new name for that," he says as he sips his drink.**

 **"Yeah, I hear that a lot," the agent responds, "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you."**

"And apparently you _still_ left out nearly every important detail, judging from this movie," Fury points out with a bit of an angry undertone.

"Not my fault SHIELD rubs me the wrong way. No need to act so sour, Nick," Tony coos, much to the directors annoyance.

 **Tony glances his way and gives a nod before turning back to the crowd and taking another sip of his scotch.**

 **"There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things. Let's just put something in the books," Phil goes on, though Tony doesn't seem to be interested at all. In fact, his eyes seem to have picked up something among the guests.**

 **Pepper Potts is revealed to be what caught the billionaire's eye; clad in a beautiful blue backless dress, her hair down and falling in ringlets over her shoulders.**

Clint wolf whistles (again) and waggles his eyebrows at Tony, who goes through the effort of leaning across Natasha just to hit him.

 **"How about the 24** **th** **, at 7:00 PM at Stark Industries?" Phil asks the clearly uninterested man.**

 **"Tell you what," Tony holds his hand out to Phil without even turning to face him. "You got it. You're absolutely right." Phil gives his hand a gentle shake as Tony continues not looking at him, "Well uh, I'm going to go to my assistant, and we'll make a date," he says, gesturing to Pepper across the floor.**

"This should be interesting," Bruce mumbles.

 **"You look fantastic! I didn't recognize you," Tony complements as he approaches Pepper, who spins around upon hearing his voice.**

"Um," Natasha furrows her brow and looks toward their resident genius, "You do realize you just told her you didn't recognize her _because_ she looks fantastic, right?"

Tony rubs the back of his neck somewhat sheepishly, "Yeah, I didn't really think that one through. You know what I meant."

 **"What are you doing here?" She asks in return.**

 **"Just avoiding government agents."**

"You seem to have made a habit of it," Fury notes and shoots Tony the stink eye.

 **"Are you by yourself?"**

 **"Yes," He quickly answers her question and nods to her outfit, "Where'd you get that dress?"**

 **She looks down at herself briefly, "Oh, it was a birthday present."**

 **"That's great."**

 **"From you, actually."**

 **"Well, I got great taste."**

 **She nods, offering an amused smile, "Yes."**

 **"You want to dance?" Tony asks, gesturing to the dance floor.**

 **She quickly shakes her head, "Oh, no, thank you…"**

 **"Alright, come on," he replies, ignoring her immediate "No" and grabbing her hand, leading her to where other people are dancing.**

"Oh, poor Pepper…" Steve sighs, shaking his head.

 **She glances around with a nervous smile before Tony pulls her to him. She breathes out a sigh, peering over his shoulder while they dance.**

 **"Am I making you uncomfortable?" He asks after a moment, giving her a measuring look as if it could tell him what she was thinking.**

"Most likely, yes," Natasha answers for her.

 **She swallows hard and nervously shakes her head, "Oh, oh, no… no. I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in front of everyone that I work with in a dress with no back," she rambles.**

 **Tony shakes his head in disagreement, "You look great, and you smell great."**

 **She looks down with an incredulous, "Oh, god…"**

 **Obviously noticing how uncomfortable Pepper truly is, Tony adds, "But I could fire you, if that would take the edge off."**

 **She allows for an amused smile, "I don't… I actually don't think that you could tie your shoes without me."**

 **"I'd make it a week," he assures her.**

Clint snorts in laughter, "A week? I'd give you a day, two tops."

Tony raises his hand to his chest in mock offence, "You would have such little faith in me, Barton?"

"In your ability to survive without that woman? Yes, I have little faith."

 **"Really?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.**

 **"Sure."**

 **She eyes him suspiciously, "What's your social security number?"**

 **He stares off to the side, obviously skimming for the information until he finally gives her his answer.**

 **"Five," he states with finality.**

 **"Five," she drawls with a smile, "Right."**

 **"Right."**

 **"You're missing just… a couple of digits there," Pepper says with a nervous giggle.**

 **"The other eight?" he asks. "So I got you for the other eight."**

"You're a genius who can multitask and process information like nobody else, and you don't even know your _social security number_?" Steve asks with disbelief but not entirely surprised.

"I have more _important_ things to keep track of, _Rogers_."

 **She smiles and looks up at him, leaving them dancing in a circle and making awkward eye contact all the while. Starting to feel uncomfortable again, Pepper looks down and away.**

 **Tony takes notice again and suggests, "How about a little air?"**

 **Pepper is quick to nod in agreement. "Yes, I need some air," she says, and they start to walk off the dance floor, Coulson watching them with measuring eyes as they go.**

 **Outside, a clearly distraught Pepper Potts is standing to the right of a surprisingly awkward looking Tony Stark.**

 **"That was totally weird," she's saying, to which Tony disagrees with a "Totally harmless."**

"She looks like she's about to cry," Natasha states, not even bothering to hide the sympathy in her voice.

 **She shakes her head, twiddling uneasily with a lock of her red hair, "It was totally not harmless, by the way."**

 **"We're dancing. No one's even watching," Tony points out in a failed attempt to calm her nerves.**

"Well, I'm sure _some_ people were watching," Bruce mumbles.

 **"Everybody who I work with… No, you know why?" She asks, her voice rising just the slightest bit as she swipes her hair from her face.**

 **"I think you lost objectivity. I think they just … people… we just danced," he says, raising an eyebrow at her, clearly not understanding the issue.**

 **"No, it was not just a dance," Pepper counters, "You don't understand because you're** ** _you_** **." She struggles for the words for a moment before continuing, "And everybody knows exactly who you are, and how you are with girls and all of that, which is completely fine. But, you know, then** ** _me_** **; you're my boss, and I'm dancing with you."**

 **Tony shakes his head, "I don't think it was taken that way."**

 **Pepper just keeps talking over him, trying desperately to make him get it, "Because it makes me look like the one who's trying to…"**

Natasha nods, "It makes her look like she's trying to climb the corporate ladder. She's not wrong."

Tony sighs, "Well, I guess. But that wasn't it, and you know it."

She just shrugs in response, leaning back in her chair and propping her feet up on Tony's lap, "Doesn't matter if I know it. To people who _don't know_ you two, it would seem that way. That's all."

 **"I just think you're overstating it," he shrugs.**

 **"You know, and we're here…" she continues. "And then I'm…" she swallows hard, looking close to tears by this point, "…wearing this ridiculous dress, and then we were dancing like that and…"**

Bruce clears his throat, awkwardly wringing his fingers, "This is the most uncomfortable sexual tension I've ever witnessed."

Steve visibly cringes, "I second that."

 **She shakes her head again, but at some point Tony had just gone quiet and had taken to looking her in the eyes, as if trying to figure her out but not caring that he probably never will. The view shows them from the side, revealing Pepper nervously wringing her fingers as they inch closer and closer together.**

Clint has taken to cheering Tony on by this point, "Finally! Just kiss her already, stop dancing around it!"

 **She grabs his arm, both of them closing their eyes, and just when it looks like they're about to kiss, Pepper seems to realize just what she's doing and opens her eyes.**

 **"I would like a drink, please…"**

"Awe, come on!" the archer pouts, crossing his arms like a child, "Thought you were smoother than that, Stark."

"Hey, Pepper is different. Don't doubt my skills, Bird Brain," he defends.

 **"Got it, okay," Tony nods and starts walking away.**

 **She sighs in what's somewhat akin to relief, turning to face him again, "I would like a vodka martini, please."**

 **"Okay."**

 **"Very dry with olives, a lot of olives," she says, swiping her hair from her face, "Like, at least three olives."**

"At least we know what she likes when she's stressed," Natasha points out with a shrug.

 **Back inside, Tony is back at the bar, telling the bartender Pepper's order and putting money into the glass, "Two vodka martinis, extra dry, extra olives, extra fast. Make one of them dirty, will you?"**

 **The bartender nods and heads off, leaving Tony standing at the bar not knowing what to do with himself. That's, of course, when a certain reporter decides to make an appearance.**

 **"Wow, Tony Stark," the blonde says as she walks up to the bar, taking her place to the right of the billionaire. She's clad in a black dress, her hair pulled back, and wearing disbelieving look on her face.**

"This Christine woman has returned?" Thor questions.

"Seriously? You remembered her name?" Tony asks, receiving a nod from Thor and everyone else.

Clint snorts in laughter, "I take it you didn't?"

 **"Oh, hey…" Tony says, obviously recognizing her but not quite placing the name.**

 **"Fancy seeing you here," she responds.**

 **The billionaire struggles for her name, "….Carrie."**

 **"-Christine," she corrects him.**

 **"That's right," he nods.**

"I was close," Tony says, and Natasha just shakes her head at him.

 **"You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight," she states with an incredulous stare, "Can I at least get a reaction from you?"**

 **He bites his lip, raising an eyebrow in her direction before finally breathing out, "Panic. I would say panic is my reaction…"**

 **"Cause I was referring to your company's involvement in this latest atrocity."**

"Wait, what?" Clint asks, causing everyone to sit up and listen a bit more carefully.

 **"Yeah, they just put my name on the invitation. I don't know what to tell you."**

 **"I** ** _actually_** **almost bought it; Hook, line, and sinker."**

 **"I was out of town, for a couple months, in case you didn't hear…"**

 **Getting angry and frustrated now, Christine raises her voice, "Is this what you call accountability?" She hands him a small stack of pictures, "It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?"**

"Oh, no…" Natasha says quietly, casting a worried glance in Tony's direction. He's sitting a bit straighter, his shoulders tenser.

"Isn't that where Yinsen was from?" Steve inquires and Tony nods stiffly.

 **Upon hearing the name, Tony looks up from the pictures he just received, something dangerous glistening in his eyes. He turns back to the photos, sifting through them. In the first one- dead cattle, tanks, parts of the town destroyed and men roaming about with his weapons. In the second- clearly one of the men who held him captive, barking orders while his henchmen move crates of Stark Industries weapons. The third shows an up-close view of the SI crates.**

 **The fourth, however, shows the Jericho missile, in all of its' destructive glory.**

"God, that's awful," Steve adds, staring at the pictures with disbelief.

 **Tony lingers on the Jericho, asking quietly, "When were these taken?"**

 **"Yesterday."**

"But I thought you shut down the weapons manufacturing?" Bruce speaks for everyone.

"I did," the billionaire responds shortly, his voice cold and closed off.

 **The genius shakes his head, "I didn't approve any shipment."**

 **"Well, your company did."**

 **The anger flashes in his eyes again as he shoots her a dangerous look,** ** _"Well, I'm not my company."_**

"Damn, shit's about to go down," Clint states, "Steve's right, you do get that look in your eyes when you're about to do something stupid."

"See?" Steve gestures to Clint, but he's looking at Tony like _'I told you!'_

 **Outside, Tony is standing stiffly beside Obadiah as he shoos away reporters and paparazzi.**

 **"Please, do you mind?"**

 **"Have you seen these pictures?" Tony asks, leaning a bit closer to the older man so no one else can hear.**

 **Obadiah puts his hand on the brunette's shoulder as he walks up the steps, "Tony…"**

 **"What's going on in Gulmira?" He demands.**

 **"Tony, you can't afford to be this naïve."**

"I don't like where this is going," Natasha states, crossing her arms, "His tone of voice is… wrong."

 **"You know what? I was naïve before, when they said,** ** _'Here's the line. We don't cross it. This is how we do business.'_** **If we're double dealing under the table… are we?" By this point, his tone is furious and rendering Obadiah silent.**

"They told you that?" Steve asks, clearly taken aback.

"That's the business world for you, Cap. They're sharks; all they want is money, they don't care about the consequences." Tony explains; the resentment for said people evident in his voice.

 **A photographer from the crowd shouts, "Tony, your picture please?"**

 **Obadiah, who had turned to meet Tony's violent glare, pats him on the shoulder and puts his arm over him, "Come on, let's take a picture. Picture time!"**

 **Reluctantly, the genius puts his arm over Obadiah's back as the cameras start flashing.**

 **"Tony," Obie states, his tone condescending, "Who do you think locked you out?"**

"What?!" Clint, Bruce, Steve, and Thor all shout in unison.

"Knew it," Natasha adds with fire in her eyes.

 **Tony continues staring straight ahead, though his body language does nothing to hide how tense and enraged he feels. In the background, Christine stands not-so-subtly eavesdropping.**

 **"I was the one who filed the injunction against you," Obadiah continues, "It was the only way I could protect you."**

Clint shakes his head, "That son of a _bitch_ … I _knew_ there was something off about him!"

 **And then he walks off, leaving Tony alone to stew in his anger and betrayal on the red carpet, clutching the offending pictures at his side.**

 **Behind him, Christine turns and walks back inside, but Tony just stays put, glaring daggers at Obadiah's back as he maneuvers through the crowd of reporters and to his car.**


	13. Chapter 13: A Descent into Hell

**Hello~ I AM SORRY. I had an AP test this week, so I spent my time studying. I also saw Civil War! (*cough* twice *cough*)AND LET ME TELL YOU; BEST. FUCKING. MOVIE.**

 **I won't spoil anything because I'm not** ** _that_** **terrible, but it's great, and while I see both sides of the argument, I still found myself leaning towards Team Iron Man.**

 **Anyways, please enjoy, and sorry again for the wait. Comment your thoughts. 3**

* * *

 **Back in the workshop, a news reporter is shown on the flat-screen TV, updating viewers on the situation while a line of people carrying their belongings trudge up a rocky hillside behind her.**

 **"The 15-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern day Heart of Darkness." The camera starts to pan out, slowly revealing the rest of the workshop space surrounding the screen.**

"God, fifteen miles…" Steve sighs despondently and shakes his head. Sometimes it amazes him how much he really missed, and it upsets him that he was never there to actually do something about it.

He glances over to the billionaire, who's currently resting his head on his fist, leaning back in his chair and gazing at the screen with far away eyes.

 **As the woman continues talking, Tony is slowly revealed to be sitting on the couch, listening to the broadcast as he tinkers with the right armor gauntlet, rotating his wrist and wiggling his fingers.**

 **"Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power."**

 **From the front, Tony takes a deep breath, his eyes dark and passive- more focused on the screen rather than his work. He takes the screwdriver in his flesh hand and twists, finally turning towards his work, but it's clear he's listening to every word.**

"I do not like the look in your eyes, my friend…" Thor speaks up, rather wearily.

"I second that," Natasha says, though it's barely a whisper, meant mostly for Tony's ears, but he refuses to make eye contact.

 **"Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant."**

 **He twists the screwdriver again, rotates his wrist and moves his fingers, the light in the center of his palm glowing and fading ominously with his movements.**

 **The sound of gunfire from the TV draws his attention back to it, the monitor showing terrorists running around with guns, firing off shots as the land around them smokes.**

 **"Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals as the Ten Rings."**

 **Tony's eyes go dark as he watches camera zoom in on Raza smoking and glaring into the camera. The next shot is of the Jericho missile, while men bustle around it loading crates into vehicles.**

"Obadiah, that fucking piece of shit," Clint shouts, voicing what they were all thinking, "Can he not see all the lives he's ruining or does he truly just not care?"

"Afraid it's the latter, Barton," Stark says rather sadly, running a hand over his exhausted features. This roller coaster ride of emotions has really taken a toll on him.

 **Upon seeing the missile, Tony looks down, but the woman continues talking, "As you can see, these men are heavily armed, and on a mission- a mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way."**

 **Tony gives the screwdriver one last, strong twist, and stands from his position on the couch.**

"You're getting that look again," Steve points out; trying and failing to lighten the mood.

 **"With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees."**

 **Tony strolls over to the counter and tosses the screw driver onto it, not really caring where it ends up. His muscles are tense and his jaw is set as he raises his arm, the woman's voice continues to roll over his ears in the background.**

Bruce watches the screen with a measuring eye, "I don't like where this is going."

 **"Around me, a woman, begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents…" Tony raises his gloved hand, the view now directly at him and capturing the rage gleaming in his eyes, "…either forced to join their militia…"**

 **The light in his palm flares up, and he fires across the workshop, knocking down the ceiling light in an array of sparks, and sending Tony's arm back from the force of it.**

"Jesus, Christ!" Steve jumps, clearly not expecting the clattering of tools accompanied by his teammates death glare. When he turns to look at the real Tony, he's shocked to see him mirroring the expression of his onscreen self almost perfectly.

It's terrifying and worrying all at once.

 **He looks at the destruction curiously, the reporter once again audible, "Desperate refugees clutch yellowed photographs, holding them up to anyone who will stop."**

 **Tony starts to walk forward, his features set and determined as he stares at the damage he caused.**

 **"A child's simple question, 'Where are my mother and father?' There's very little hope for these refugees …"**

 **From the side Tony's jaw is stiff and his eyes are gleaming with frustration and guilt.**

 **"…refugees who can only wonder, who, if anyone, will help them?"**

 **Tony drops his head, only looking up again once he's turned to face his reflection in the glass doors of the shop.**

 **He's glaring now, frustration turning to hate like the flick of a switch- hate for himself, and him alone. The room goes quiet at as he stares at himself, until he raises his armored hand again.**

 **Just like that his face twists into a deadly grimace as he aims at his reflection in the glass, shattering it effortlessly.**

"Holy sh-!" Clint starts, but is cut off by the sounds of breaking glass filling the room, making real Tony flinch and clench his eyes shut.

 **He quickly shoots the one to the left, before turning and shooting the one directly in the center as if he can't stand to look at himself any longer.**

 **He turns and walks away, leaving the shattered glass scattered on the workshop floor.**

The movie pauses, as if Loki knew there would be some discussion after this.

Natasha turns to Tony and wraps him in a hug- actually _hugs_ him.

He looks surprised, his eyes wide and his arms hanging uselessly at his sides, fists clenching and unclenching as if he's unsure what he's supposed to do with himself.

Eventually he decides it must be okay to hug back, because she still hasn't let go of him. He hesitantly wraps his arms around her, but absolutely refuses to look at anyone.

When she finally pulls away, she thumps his forehead and swears at him in Russian, before slouching back into her seat.

He risks glancing at the rest of the team, who immediately look away from him, which he's admittedly a little thankful for.

"It was a long time ago," he offers as a weak explanation, but it's as good as he can manage and it seems to work for now.

The group nods and looks back to the movie.

 **Tony steps onto the testing platform now dressed in his under armor suit as he steps to the center of the grid. The floor in front of him starts to separate, the armor's boots appearing in front of Tony's feet and a pair of robotic yellow arms holding up the calves.**

"Now _this_ is more like it," Steve comments, offering a lopsided grin to the billionaire.

 **He steps into the boots, the machines quickly attaching the calves and locking into place around his form, doing the same for the knees and thighs.**

 **More robotic arms come down from the ceiling, holding out the opened gauntlets, which Tony slips his hands and arms into just as the silver back and chest pieces attach to his torso. Bits of the red armor are screwed on piece by piece, covering the inner workings of the suit in clean cut red and gold.**

"That looks incredibly… complicated," Clint points out, "But it's fucking awesome."

Tony allows for a small smile and nods, "I've improved on the actually assembly ten times over since then. Thank god, or I'd be a splat on cement during the battle of New York."

When Natasha raises an eyebrow at him he just shrugs and explains in Russian, "Loki brosil menya v okno." (Loki tossed me out the window.)

"Ah," she nods.

 **The chest piece clicks into place over the arc reactor, until the red chest plate moves to cover it, locking into place and intensifying its' glow.**

 **The arms are finally attached and Tony pulls his hands free. He stays in place as the sides of the helmet are attached, until finally, the face plate clicks on, flips down, and the eyes light up; the final piece.**

 **The suit is assembled.**

"Fuck yes," Clint grins like a kid in a candy store and turns to Tony with hopeful eyes, " _Please_ tell me we're going to Gulmira."

 _"Unfortunately, Mr. Barton, yes- we're going to Gulmira,"_ JARVIS' answers from above, leaving a grin on his creator's face, " _Let it be known that I advised against his chosen course of action."_

"That you did, Sugar Muffin."


	14. Chapter 14: Gulmira

**Hello~ I'm back! As I mentioned previously I had exams this past week, so I haven't had the time to update, but now I'm on summer break, so hopefully I'll be able to post more consistently. I'll be posting for** ** _Loki Returns_** **either later today or tomorrow, for those of you who keep up with that story as well. Comment your thoughts!**

 **~AirBrushed**

* * *

 **The armor goes speeding through the clouds, briefly passing by the screen before going supersonic and breaking the sound barrier, leaving a thin trail of white behind it.**

Clint whistles and shakes his head, "Damn that looks fun."

"Maybe if you ask nicely I'll let you borrow a suit sometime," Tony winks and leans back in his seat.

"Wait, really?" Clint lights up, looking like a kid on Halloween who was just handed a king sized candy bar.

"No," Natasha answers before the billionaire can, and shoot Clint a glare before he can argue.

 **In Gulmira (which, true to Yinsen's words, is really quite small), groups of men, women, and children run screaming for their lives as terrorists invade their village. In the distance, missiles (not unlike the ones from the Jericho test) can be seen flying into the mountains, the explosions shaking the ground and kicking up dust and dirt.**

 **The villagers run with their hands above their heads in surrender as they're ushered out of their homes. One family is actually driven back inside by two men with guns, one of them kicking the door in and open firing into the house, effectively silencing their screams.**

Steve flinches, setting his jaw and staring in horror at the actions of the men on screen.

 **An explosion rings from one house, smoke spewing out the entry way. People are shot, kicked, and shoved around the streets, even lined up to await either recruitment or execution.**

"I do not understand; why are these men so intent on killing these villagers?" Thor asks, staring at the screen in disbelief. He has never seen anything like this on Midgard before.

"It's a different part of the world, Thor," Nick answers, shaking his head, "They crave power, and they use fear to get it; that's why they're called terrorists."

"Yeah," Tony scoffs, "fear, and _my_ weapons."

"Friend Anthony," Thor turns to him, his voice booming like thunder, "Is this group still around?"

Tony shakes his head, placating the God only slightly, if the loosening grip on his hammer was anything to go by, "No, not that I know of. I check regularly, just to be sure, but there are other groups that are just as bad, if not worse, than the Ten Rings."

"What savages! I'd like to see them try to strike fear into the Son of Odin!" He's nearly growling at this point; hammer sparking with electricity as he stands from his seat, "Perhaps they'll change their minds once they taste the might of Mjolnir!"

Fury sighs and rubs his temples, clearly too old for this shit. "That's not how these things work. We can't always just march our way onto foreign soil, guns blazing, shooting down whatever motherfuckers we want to. So sit your ass down, and watch the damn movie, all of you, before you give me a damn stroke."

"Alright, alright, calm it Nicky, before you pop a vein," Tony pesters, just to get a rise out of the man.

"Stark, so help me God, I will shoot your ass-"

"Alright!" Steve shouts over them in his Captain America voice, silencing the room, "That's enough."

 **A familiar face enters the shot; the man who had first addressed Tony when he had woken up in the cave. He was shouting orders to his men, who were loading cases into their vehicles and rounding up families.**

 **One family is pushed along as a whole, refusing to release one another. The father is hit especially hard in the back, sending them tumbling to the ground. When the leader sees the man, he shouts to his men, "That one there! Grab that dog! Put him with the others."**

 **The father was immediately ripped away, ready to be lined up for execution with the other men while his children and his wife screamed. One of his sons broke away from his mother's grip and started running for his father, screaming for his Papa.**

"Stay with your mom, kid," Clint urges, running his hands through his hair in concern for the child.

 **His father broke away from his captor's grip as well, rushing for his son and gripping him in a hug. He tries desperately to usher him away, back to the imagined safety of his mother's arms, but the boy is having none of it.**

Bruce is almost as bad as Clint, if not worse, "Come on Tony, where's that impeccable timing of yours?"

Tony would be grinning knowingly if not for the scene in front of him. It still made his stomach twist in guilt, no matter how many lives he's saved since before Afghanistan.

He may be a genius, but even he can't bring back the dead.

 **The main spokesman walks up to the pair, obviously annoyed and outraged as he shouts, "What the hell is this?!" He reaches for the boy, ripping him out of his father's arms and throwing him to one of his lower henchmen. He and another man hold the father back, throwing him to the ground where it's easier to beat him.**

 **The man's wife, now reunited with her both her children, screams for him, almost certainly begging them to stop their brutal kicking of her husband. The children join in, too, the boy from before shouting out as tears roll down his cheeks.**

"Jesus," Steve whispers under his breath, "I… this is merciless. I don't know much longer I can watch this…"

 **Finally getting bored with it, the leader gives one final kick and gestures for his henchmen to get the father on his knees while he himself saunters away, "Shoot this dog! You're all incompetent."**

 **The man's family continued to yell for him, his son screaming, "PAPA!** ** _PAPA!_** **"**

"Someone please cover his eyes," Natasha pleads and shakes her head, knowing all too well the traumatic affects it would have on such a young child to witness an execution. It's an unfortunate part of her work, or at least, it used to be.

Noticing her discomfort in one of the rare moments she allows herself to show such an emotion, Tony hesitates for only a moment before slinging an arm around her shoulders. She knows he's uncertain how she'll react, so she forces herself to relax as much as she can so he can't feel the tenseness in her shoulders.

She appreciates the gesture of comfort all the same.

 **The henchman is yelling now, too, only he's demanding that the father turns his head.**

 **Just before he pulls the trigger, there's a gust of wind as a figure descends from the sky, landing on the hard ground with a metal '** ** _clang,_** **' one knee bent and hands back.**

"YES!" Clint jumps up from his seat, only for Natasha to drag him back down. Still, he rubs his hands together in anticipation, "Fuck em' up, Iron Man!"

Tony snorts in laughter and high-fives the archer over Natasha's head, "That's the plan, Bird-Brain."

 **The flight stabilizers cut out, and the armor rises to its' full height, towering over the men who have turned to look. After the initial shock of their unexpected visitor, there are sounds of gunfire, but the bullets only ricochet off the gold titanium alloy.**

 **Tony turns to face the "brave" shooter, winding up a punch in the action and slamming his metal-clad fist into the man's chest, sending him up and into a concrete wall with enough force to dent it.**

"Ouch," Bruce winces, but he's grinning all the same, because while he may disapprove of violence, he's smart enough to recognize when one deserves it.

 **There are more shots, but Tony is quick (not to mention bullet-proof), and turns around to shoot a repulsor blast at the gunman, creating a body shaped hole in the wall in the process. He moves on to the next man, sending him back and away from harming the civilians.**

 **He shoots another into their newfound stockpile of weaponry, sending the cases tumbling over.**

"It's honestly horrible but this is even more entertaining than ultimate fighting," Clint grins, leaning forward in his seat as if it would improve the experience.

 **As the genius turns to aim his repulsors at the next group of men, he's forced to stop short when he realizes they now have the civilians in their grasp, using them as human shields and aiming guns to their heads.**

 **They scream in terror, but nonetheless, Tony lowers his arms, waggling his fingers to shut down the blasts that never came.**

 **Inside the helmet, the HUD differentiates the civilians from the terrorists so no innocents will get injured. A compartment over each one of the armor's shoulders opens up, firing a quick succession of bullets into the enemy's faces, effectively saving the villagers.**

Steve grins and claps Tony on the shoulder, his eyes never leaving the screen as he watches his friend be the very thing Steve had accused him of not being; _a hero._

 **The young boy breaks from his mother's hold once again, and rushes back to his father. They grab each other in a hug, the father muttering reassurances as his son gazes up at the metal figure in wonder.**

Barton chuckles at the amazement in the child's eyes, "Man, that's gotta be blowing this kid's mind."

 **Inside one of the half destroyed homes, the leader peers out from the side of the wall, only to duck back behind it to frantically dial a number on a clunky old phone. He never gets to finish, though, as he's interrupted by a red-iron fist breaking through the concrete beside his head.**

 **The hand grabs him, ripping him straight through the wall and tossing him onto the ground at the villagers' feet.**

"That's gotta hurt like a motherfucker," Fury grins, nodding his head in satisfaction.

 **He starts up the repulsors again, rising a few feet into the air, "He's all yours," he says to the small gathering of people, before shooting up into the sky, leaving the villagers to glare angrily at the terrorist before them.**

 **Back in the sky, Tony's HUD locates the Jericho missiles from another nearby raided village.**

"Wait, no! I wanted to watch them beat the shit out of him!" Clint complains, sulking in his seat.

Natasha just ruffles his hair, her expression annoyed yet fond all at once, "Suck it up."

 **Tony is just starting to head in the Jericho's direction when he's hit by a projectile and shot out of the sky.**

 **The source of the projectile is revealed to be a tank as he plummets to the earth in the background.**

 **Out of the fresh crater in the ground, a metal hand reaches up, and Tony pulls himself to his feet with a robotic whirring sound. The paint job on the armor is now scratched and scorched in nearly every place, but overall the armor is seemingly intact.**

"Huh," Bruce muses, "Pretty strong for such an early model."

Tony shrugs, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms behind his head, "What can I say? 'S what I do."

 **His feet hit the ground with two big thumps as he stands tall to face the tank. It fires another missile at him, but he merely side steps to avoid getting hit, and raises his arm to fire a missile of his own.**

 **It hits the tank with a clunk, and he turns away, not all amused.**

 **Behind him, the missile explodes in a great ball of fire and smoke as he's walking away.**

"Okay," Clint sighs, "I'll add fuel to your ego just this once, because that was fucking bad ass."

Tony grins and holds up his hand for another high-five, to which Clint happily obliges.

 **The men hiding among the rubble begin to fire at him, but still the bullets do nothing to the well crafted suit as it rises once again into the air. Spotting the Jericho missiles from the birds-eye view, Tony aims a high powered repulsor blast at the weapon, effectively blowing it to pieces.**

 **Raza and his men are shown driving along the mountain path just as the explosion spreads throughout the terrorist infested village, not to mention just as Iron Man shoots out through the smoke and into the air.**


	15. Chapter 15: Bogey

**Hello~ Sorry this took forever. I explained why I was gone for a while in my new story- Stark Men are made of Iron. I just don't feel like typing it all again because I've been working on this update for the past 4 hours, and I'm running on 3 hours of sleep and 3 cups of coffee. Word pad doesn't have God damn spell check, so I have to read through it like 6 times and check everything, including grammar, and I'm sure there are still mistakes. But I'm tired, so I'm sorry.**

 **Please comment your thoughts- they brighten my day and I will be happy to read them once I wake up from my much-needed nap! Also, please check out my new story, because I wanted to write some Civil War fics and I love Tony Stark, so I did. That will be updated soon, hopefully.**

 **Enjoy!**

~XXX~

 **Monitors displaying a radar and a blinking red dot traveling along it are shown, accompanied by the confused muttering of military personnel.**

Clint scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest, "Guess we should've figured the military would get involved at some point."

Fury shrugs, "SHIELD was involved with Stark since the cave explosion; that's why we sent Agent Coulson to the press conference."

"Would it have killed you guys to give him some space after being gone for so long?" Steve questions, as he understands on some level what it's like to have information shoved in your face when you've been out of the loop for so long. Different circumstances, sure, but it's not fun either way.

"We didn't have time to wait for him to get comfortable again, Captain. We're an intelligence agency; we gather information and we do it _quickly_ ," the Director shoots back, effectively silencing the blonde.

"I wouldn't call that quickly, considering I did a pretty swell job avoiding Agent and all his little goons. In fact, I don't think you got your little debriefing until you decided to make a personal visit," Tony points out, much to the older man's annoyance.

 **One soldier leans over the desk, looking at the screen, then to the man sitting at the desk, "What the hell was that? Were we cleared to go in there?"**

 **The younger man shakes his head, "No sir, they were using human shields. We never got the green light."**

 **The camera quickly pans up to one man, who is clearly in charge, talking into his mic, "Patch me through to state, they're going to be all over this."**

 **"Get those monitors up!" Someone shouts from across the room.**

 **"We got a bogey," the man at the desk says, reaching for the phone beside him as his free hand types on the keyboard.**

 **"Wasn't AirForce!" One soldier provides.**

"No, it definitely wasn't," mumbles Natasha, casting a fond grin over the genius, who returns the grin like a child would to a proud parent.

 **The man in charge is clearly getting frustrated at this point as he asks, "We got the CIA on the line?"**

 **"I've got Langley on the line; they want to know if it's us."**

 **"No, it is definitely not us, sir," the soldier at the desks answers.**

 **"It wasn't Navy," another shouts.**

 **"Wasn't marines!"**

 **"I need answers," the one in charge says, "Can I please get eyes on target?" A brief shot of the room at large reveals that they are no closer to getting the answers they need, so man adds, "Get me Colonel Rhodes from weapons development down here now!"**

"That's my honey bear! Bringing in the big guns, I see," the billionaire cuts in, rubbing his hands together in mock anticipation.

 **Tony is shown shooting through the sky again, simply minding his own business before the shot returns to the base once more, just as Rhodes is walking in.**

"Gotta hand it to Rhodes; he seems to be the only one in the room who is even remotely calm," Clint points out, and Natasha scoffs.

"Of course he's put together; he's spent half his life dealing with this one," she nudges Tony, who squawks in disagreement as she continues, "he knows that whatever it is, it's nothing he can't handle."

"You people have _zero_ faith in me. You act as if he was _forced to put up with me_. I'll have you know he chose to stick around on his own accord, thank you very much!" Tony crosses his arms and holds his head high with an indignant huff, though it held no real heat.

"I am sure that is the case, friend Anthony!" Thor shouts, too cheerful to seem true. The rest of the group laughs while Tony just sulks.

 **We ran an ID check and cross-referenced with all known databases. We have nothing," the leader says as the Colonel approaches.**

 **"Any high altitude surveillance in the region?" He asks, and one man answers.**

 **"We got an AWOK and a Global Hawk in the area."**

 **Rhodes brow furrows in confusion as he studies the screen, "So this thing just appeared out of nowhere?" He stands a bit straighter as he addresses the room, "How come it didn't show up on the radar?"**

"Too small," Natasha answers for them.

 **"Got a minimal radar cross-section, sir," is the soldier at the desk's response.**

 **Rhodey is clearly getting frustrated at this point, but his voice never shows it, "Is it stealth?"**

 **"No sir," the same man says, "it's... tiny. We think it's an unmanned aerial vehicle."**

 **"Colonel," the soldier in charge lowers his voice to ask, "what are we dealing with here?"**

 **Contemplating his answer for a minute, James lowers his head, "Let me make a call."**

"Oh, he knows something's up," Barton smirks.

 **Back in the air, the sound of a cell phone ringing can be heard from the suit.**

 **"Hello," Tony answers nonchalantly.**

 **"Tony?"**

 **"Who's this?" Tony's voice can be heard over the colonel's receiver.**

 **"It's Rhodes."**

 **"Sorry, hello?" the billionaire asks again, the HUD in his suit clearly showing a picture of the Colonel.**

 **"I said it's Rhodes."**

 **"Speak up please," Tony teases.**

Natasha sighs, but flashes Tony a grin anyways, "Why must you provoke him?"

"What?" he asks innocently, "he's too serious! I'm just poking fun..."

 **"What in the hell is that noise?" the colonel responds, clearly annoyed at this point.**

 **"Oh, yeah, I'm driving with the top down," he lies easily.**

 **"Yeah, well I need your help right now."**

 **"It's funny how that works, huh?" Tony says, alluding to their earlier conversation at the base.**

"You have a point," Steve says, receiving a round of nods throughout the room. He has no ill feelings towards Colonel Rhodes, but the way he brushed Tony off during their discussion at the AirForce base- when Tony had reached out to him about his project- still bothers him.

 **"Yeah," he ignores the half-hearted jab, and continues on, "Speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive."**

 **"Well, that's a hot spot," the genius answers quickly, "Sounds like..." he takes a deep breath, "someone stepped in and did your job for you, huh?"**

 **"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?" Rhodey inquires, clearly suspicious now.**

"Could you sound anymore guilty?" Bruce sighs.

 **"I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon," he explains.**

 **On his head, Rhodes nods and corrects his friend, "I thought you were driving."**

 **"Right... I was driving to the canyon... where I'm going to jog."**

"That's weak, Stark. I've seen you bullshit your way out of worse than that," Clint teases.

"Rhodey is different," he reasons, slouching in his seat. He had never been able to lie to his best friend- at least, not in any way that sounded remotely convincing. Besides, Tony tends to surround himself with people who will call him out on his bullshit- like Pepper- and Rhodey is no exception.

 **"You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about?"**

 **"Nope!"**

 **"Bogey spotted!" one soldier updates the room at large.**

 **"Whiplash, come in hot," another says.**

 **"Okay, good," the colonel says, turning to face the monitor, "'cause I'm staring at one right now, and it's about to be blown to kingdom come."**

"Just like that?" Steve questions, furrowing his brow. "They're not even going to figure out what it is before they blow it up?"

"To be fair," Natasha speaks up,"they _did_ try to figure it out. And if it's a potential threat..." She trails off, letting the question answer itself.

 **In the air, two jets approach the suit from behind.**

 **"That's my exit," Tony glances back at them, before rolling off to the side.**

 **The jets follow suit, going after the unknown aircraft.**

 **The camera shows the view from the cockpit of one of the jets, but the suit is hard to make out from the repulsor's glare. "Ballroom, this is whiplash one, I've got the bogey in my sights," the first pilot informs.**

 **"Whiplash one, what is it?" Rhodes asks.**

 **"I've got no idea."**

 **"Do you have radio contact?" the man in charge questions.**

 **"Nonresponsive, sir."**

 **"Then you are clear to engage."**

Steve watches the screen with a calculating look, "Please tell me you're not about to do something stupid."

Tony shrugs, "No promises, I'm afraid."

 **Through the HUD of Tony's suit, just above the horizon line, are the words, 'ENGAGE; SUPERSONIC FLIGHT'.**

 **"Hit it," Tony commands, and the suit shoots forward.**

"Fuck, that looks fun," Clint whines.

"Oh, it is," Natasha answers him with a smile.

The archer turns to her, jealously clear in his eyes, "What? He let you try out one of his suits?! Why not me?"

She just arches a perfectly sculpted brow, and he slumps back in his seat as he realizes the answer to his own question.

"Yeah..." he sighs, "okay."

 **"Bogey just went supersonic!" one pilot reports. "I got a lock!" He then proceeds to hit a button and a missile shoots out from beneath the jet.**

 **"Inbound missile," JARVIS informs his creator.**

 **"Flares!" he shouts in response, and the flares deploy, blowing up the missile and sending him tumbling forward in a burst of fire.**

 **The pilots dodge the explosion, continuing their pursuit of the aircraft.**

 **"Wait a second- Bogey deployed flares!" one pilot shouts, as it cuts to a shot of Tony trying to regain his flight as he falls through the air.**

"This part..." Tony shrugs, recalling the countless bruises and repairs he had to make to the suit afterward, "not so fun."

 **He struggles a bit longer, but eventually he levels out and shoots past the screen, the jets not far behind.**

 **One of the pilots gets a lock on the suit again and starts firing shots. Tony grunts as they impact the suit and tries to maneuver out of the line of fire. When that doesn't work, he shouts, "Deploy flaps!"**

 **The flaps in the back of the suit fly open, slowing his forward momentum and allowing the jets to pass him.**

 **"Holy-" curses one pilot as they both watch the suit fly past them.**

"Woah, okay!" Clint grins, leaning forward in his seat, along with Steve and Bruce.

 **Back in the base, one soldier reports, "That thing just jumped off the radar, sir. The sat visual has been lost.**

 **"No way that's a UAV," one of the pilots deducts, still glancing around for sight of the suit.**

 **"What is it?" the man in charge says.**

"I believe the correct terminology would be ' _who_?'" Thor corrects the screen.

 **Still looking around, the pilot shakes his head, "I can't see anything."**

 **"Whatever is was, it just bought the farm," the other pilot decides. "I think bogey's been handled, sir."**

 **Rhodey is slightly more at ease, but clearly not convinced as he stares at the radar. His attention is only drawn from it when his personal cell phone starts to ring. He looks down at the caller ID.**

 _"The Starkster?"_ Clint snorts a laugh as he reads the caller ID, and the others join in- including Tony.

Between laughs, he shakes his head, "All him- not me, I swear!"

 **Rhodey glances around the room before turning his back and answering the phone, "Hello?"**

 **"Hi," Tony answers quickly, even more out of breath, "Rhodey, it's me."**

 **"It's who?"**

 **"I'm sorry, it is me. You asked, what you're asking about is me..." he trails off, taking a deep breath.**

"Wait what?" Steve frowns, "I thought he got away?"

 **"No, see, this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?" Rhodey scolds.**

 **"This is not a piece of equipment!" Tony corrects him, clenching his eyes shut as his HUD blinks red. When Rhodes still doesn't get it, he elaborates, "I'm in it! It's a suit, it's me!"**

"I don't get it; where are you?" Bruce questions.

"Just watch," the billionaire smirks.

 **Understanding overtakes the Colonel's features as he turns to the radar screens, the soldier in charge turning to him with a questioning look.**

 **"Rhodey, you got anything for me?"**

 **"Mark your position and return to base," someone from base orders the jets.**

 **"Roger that, Ballroom," one of the pilots says.**

 **As the first jet starts to turn around and head back to base, the armor is revealed to be clinging on to the underbelly.**

"You have got to be kidding me!" Clint groans, "How did you even..."

"What was I supposed to do? I had _raptors_ on my ass!" Tony defends himself, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe fly away? You were off the radar already, go low," Natasha answers for her partner.

 **The other pilot notices and leans in for a closer look, "On your belly-"**

 **The Colonel and the man in charge share a look as the pilot continues.**

 **"It looks like a... man! Shake him off! Roll! Roll!"**

 **The pilot complies and starts rolling his aircraft as Tony clings on for dear life, but sadly, metal-clad fingers don't hold such a strong grip. His hands slip and he goes tumbling backward, directly into the wing of the second jet and ripping it clean off.**

"Ouch..." Bruce flinches, along with everyone else in the room.

Tony sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, "Yeah, pretty sore after that one."

"But what about the pilot?" Steve reminds them, and everyone holds their breath as they watch the screen.

 **"I'm hit! I'm hit!" the pilot shouts as his aircraft starts to smoke and tumble.**

 **Colonel Rhodes stares at the radar in fear for both his pilot and his best friend.**

 **"Punch out! Punch out!" The other pilot yells as the crashing pilot** continues **scrambling for the eject feature.**

 **He's ejected from the aircraft just as it blows to bits, and he's left falling from the air in his seat.**

"Where's his chute?" Fury mumbles, though it doesn't go unheard and only succeeds in increasing the tension in the room.

 **"Whiplash one down!" Someone shouts.**

 **The soldier with the most authority stares intently at the screen as he addresses the second pilot, "Whiplash two, do you see a chute?"**

 **"Negative! No chute! No chute!"**

 **The camera angle switches to the falling pilots point of view as he falls from the air, his struggle to open the chute audible over the coms.**

 **"My chute's jammed!" he shouts, obviously panicking now.**

"Oh, shit..." the archer leans forward, biting nervously on his fingernails.

 **He spreads his arms, hoping to slow his fall, when a trail of smoke comes shooting down after him from above, along with a flash of red and gold.**

 **"Sir, I've got a visual on the bogey," the pilot reports.**

 **"Whiplash two, reengage. If you get a clear shot, you take it!" He orders.**

 **Rhodey glances nervously at the man, "Sir, we don't even know what we're shooting at. Call off the raptors."**

 **The man shoots him a cold glare, "That thing just took out an F-22 inside a legal no-fly zone!" He addresses the pilot again, but never breaks eye contact with the Colonel, "Whiplash two, if you have a clear shot, take it!"**

"At least he tried," Tony shrugs.

 **The suit is shown flying downwards for the pilot as JARVIS speaks up, "You've been re-engaged. Execute evasive maneuver."**

 **"Keep going!" Tony commands.**

"Make haste, Man of Iron!" Thor shouts, hefting Mjolnir in the air.

 **Finally, he reaches the pilot, grabbing onto the back of his seat and punching out the parachute. It opens immediately, and he flies up and out of sight.**

 **"Good chute! Good chute" The pilot informs the base, and they all cheer in relief.**

The Avengers and Fury all sag in relief, letting out the breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding.

"Now I _know_ this is bad for my stress..." Bruce sighs, running his hands through his hair.

 **Tony flies away, twirling around in the air as the jet is seen turning away in the distance.**

 **Rhodey puts his phone back up to his ear, "Tony, you still there?"**

 **"Hey, thanks," he breathes out in response.**

 **"Oh, my god, you crazy son of a bitch," Rhodey grins, taking in a shuddering breath of relief. "You owe me a plane. You know that, right?"**

"That'll be expensive," Steve chuckles, the adrenaline just starting to subside for him as well.

 **Tony smiles and laughs a bit as the adrenaline rush fades, "Yeah, well technically, he hit me. So, now are you going to come by and see what I'm working on?"**

 **"No, no, no, no, no, no, the less I know, the better," he says, shaking his head. "Now what am I supposed to tell the press?"**

 **"Training exercise," Tony supplies easily, "isn't that the usual BS?"**

 **Rhodey sighs, "It's not that simple."**

"Of course it is," Tony adds with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

 **The scene switches over to a view of Rhodes in uniform, standing at a podium with an array of microphones set up in front of him.**

 **Camera's are flashing and people quiet down as he begins to speak, "An unfortunate training exercise involving and F-22 Raptor occurred yesterday. I am pleased to report that the pilot was not injured."**

 **The shot switches to a very angry Obadiah Stane, sitting on his couch in his pajamas and robe as he watches the news broadcast.**

"Oh, _now_ he wears the pajama's I got him," Tony rolls his eyes, but the others ignore him in favor of listening to Rhodes speak.

 **Rhodey continues speaking as the view shows Obadiah's television, with the headline, 'PILOT PARACHUTES TO SAFETY AFTER TRAINING MISHAP - $84 MILLION DOLLAR F-22 RAPTOR DESTROYED.'**

Steve is undoubtedly about to comment on the amount of money, but he stops himself when the Colonel continues talking.

 **"As for the unexpected turn of events on the ground in Gulmira, it is still unclear who, or what, intervened, but I can assure you that the United States government was not involved," Rhodes finishes as the camera zooms in on Stane's scowl.**

"He definitely knows something," Natasha states matter of factly, glaring at the man on screen. Of course, she knows about Obadiah and what he did to the genius she now calls her friend, but to see it on screen is completely different.

In fact, she's starting to wonder if Loki just doesn't understand humans as well as he thinks he does, because if anything, so far, this movie has made them understand and appreciate Tony Stark even more.

Then again, as she glances over at him, she can't help but notice the far away look in his eyes as he stares down the man on screen. There's no mistaking the betrayal and hurt in his eyes.

She wishes she could help him, but she knows she can't change the past. So she reaches out and lays a comforting hand on his shoulder. It goes unnoticed by the others, who have begun speculating about their suspicions of Obadiah Stane, but Tony shoots her a grateful smile, subtly leaning into her touch.

She gives him a reassuring nod, and she knows right then and there that she'll do everything in her power to keep this man's trust, because she understands now that it's a rare thing, and she feels lucky to be one of the few that have it.


	16. Chapter 16: The Gift of Iron Soldiers

**Hello!~ Yes, I know! Guess who's not dead? It's been a RIDICULOUSLY long time, and I apologize. Honestly, I do! I've been getting comments and PM's asking when I'll update this and I've tried my best to answer them! I have a lot of advanced classes and it's difficult to find time to just sit down and write, especially if I'm not feeling inspired. It's hard to feel inspired when you're exhausted. However, I managed to finish this chapter all the same, and I really hope you enjoy it!**

 **It's also come to my attention that I** ** _could_** **be at risk of a** ** _potential_** **copyright issue, so just to be safe I'm going to add the following, though I'm not sure it would help much:**

 **Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.**

 **I do not own anything related to Marvel, that includes the titles and characters, etc. I am simply exercising creative writing, and I am not profiting from this in any way, shape, or form.**

 **~The totally, 100% alive, Airbrushed**

* * *

 **A shiny pair of black stiletto heels can be seen carefully but smoothly making their way down a flight of concrete stairs. The glass windows to the workshop are still blown out, and there's a distinct sound of machines working from below.**

 **There comes a quick, "Hey!" from below as the camera pans out to reveal the owner of the heels to be none other than Pepper Potts, clad in a black dress appropriate for a workplace.**

 ** _"It is a tight fit, sir,"_** **Jarvis replies, almost as if exasperated with his creator. There's another grunt before the AI adds,** ** _"Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt."_**

Bruce and Clint can be seen biting their cheeks as they try to keep themselves from bursting into a fit of laughter at the ridiculousness of the AI's choice of words.

 **Pepper, who was frowning down at the remains of the glass doors to the shop, looks up at that statement.**

 **"Be gentle," Tony grumbles, the whirring sound of machines still prominent, "This is my first time."**

"PFFT!" Clint snickers, a cheeky grin spreading across his face as he gives in to his laughter, Bruce not far behind. When Tony frowns at them, he notices that Natasha's shoulders are shaking beside him. As he turns his attention to her, he realizes that she's having a difficult time maintaining her own composure.

He's about to say something along the lines of, 'Really? Even you're laughing?' but he doesn't want to take the chance of discouraging her; she needs to know it's okay to have fun.

If the cost of her relaxing a bit and just smiling is his own brief embarrassment, he'll take it any day.

 **The strawberry blonde's features are beyond incredulous at this point, when the view finally switches and reveals Tony, clad in his damaged- but overall functioning- suit of armor. He's surrounded by the same robotic arms that had originally encased him in the suit, though it appears that undoing the process is proving to be a bit more difficult.**

"That's how you used to remove the armor?" Asks Steve, questioning the obvious, as always.

Tony nods, "Yup- as I've said- there's been a lot of upgrades since then."

"Wow. Nowadays I see you get in and out of the armor in mere seconds," he mutters, his eyes full of that ever-present glimpse of wonder and fascination at the wonders of today. Though, to be fair, Tony's inventions have always been way ahead of the curve; it's understandable.

"Aye!" Thor booms, "I myself have witnessed this transformation! The Man of Iron dresses with great speed; Speed of which even the power of Asgardian magic cannot hope to compete when adorning my person in attire fit for battle!"

Tony groans, letting his head fall back and face twisting in disgust, "Please never use such a vulgar word around me _ever_ again."

Thor's head is now tilted to the side in confusion like a golden retriever, "I'm afraid I do not understand what you have taken such offense to, Man of Iron. However, I apologize nonetheless!"

 _"Mr. Odinson, if I may, I believe sir is referring to your use of the word, 'magic.'"_

 **"I designed this to come off,** so- **," there's a loud clang and a blurted, "OW! Hey!" from the genius. "I really should be able to..."**

 ** _"Please, try not to move, Sir,"_** **Jarvis reprimands, although the request is clearly ignored.**

 **Pepper steps cautiously into the room, staring at her boss like he's grown a second head, "What's going on here?"**

 **The robotic arms, no doubt controlled by Jarvis, all pause in their work, like a child being caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, as Tony reluctantly turns his head back to look at Pepper.**

 **There's a moment of silence before Tony finally decides on, "Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."**

 **At this point, her jaw has dropped open, and there's nothing she can truly say to that besides a breathless, "Are those** ** _bullet holes?"_**

"She really had no idea, did she?" Natasha smirks, but the look of amusement is quickly wiped off her face when she notices the transition into the next scene. She holds her breath and glances over at Tony, who has stiffened just enough that it may not even be noticeable to the untrained. She moves a comforting hand onto his shoulder, rubbing her thumb in small circles.

She knows it doesn't make the panic disappear, but at the very least she hopes it's enough to keep him grounded.

 **The monitor shows armed men walking around what appears to be a base camp. There are tents and cheap vehicles scattered around, though the cover of night mixed with the dust floating in the air makes it difficult to pick out any specific details.**

"Looks like we're back in Afghanistan," Clint notes, receiving a round of nodding.

"Looks like," Tony mumbles his affirmation, letting out a sigh as he tries to calm his nerves.

 **The men start conversing with one another when a short line of large, black SUV's pull up, kicking up dirt in their tracks. Some of the men move to stand behind their leader, while others stay off to the side and watch for suspicious behavior from their guests.**

 **Raza is standing in wait for whoever occupies the lead SUV, two men on each flank. They each hold a gun across their chest, but Raza appears, for the most part, unarmed.**

"I have a feeling I know who's inside one of those cars," Steve announces with a bit of misery lacing his words.

 **The driver of the SUV steps out first, followed by both the occupants in the front and back seats of the passenger side. When the doors close, none other than Obadiah Stane is revealed, clad in a pristine black suit and tie that leaves him looking rather out of place, given his current location.**

"Well, 10 points for Steve," Tony tries to joke. It doesn't change the fact that his eyes are sad and filled with regret, but also a bit of... wonder?

"What is it?" Natasha questions him, taking note of the odd mixture of feelings displayed in his features.

"It's nothing really, I've just never seen this part. I knew Raza was gone but I never really knew for sure or saw confirmation of what happened."

 **He stalks forward, his own men mirroring Raza's but managing to look much more intimidating. He stops a mere step short from the man, sizes him up, and then stands in wait.**

 **"Welcome," Raza greets, although there's no indication of genuine friendship.**

 **In response, Obadiah tilts his head to get a better look at the burned half of Raza's face, raising his eyebrows at the man.**

 **"Compliments of Tony Stark," the terrorist explains, gesturing to his wound.**

"Hell yeah, it is," Clint mumbled, nodding in approval at the size of the burn.

 **Stane smacks his lips, then speaks in a condescending tone, "Well, if you'd killed him when you were supposed to, you'd still have a face."**

Tony stiffens at this; He knew Stane had paid to have him killed, but hearing him outright say it was different. Sometimes it's hard to believe that he once looked up to this man.

 **"You paid us trinkets to kill a prince," Raza replies, nearly a growl.**

 **"Show me the weapon," the older man demands, clearly not up for a debate.**

"The weapon?" Thor tilts his head in confusion, "What is he referring to, friend Anthony?"

Tony twiddles his thumbs and shrugs, "I'm sure you'll find out."

 **"Come," he says, then, after glancing at the business man's men, he adds, "leave your guards outside."**

 **Obadiah nods and waves his men off with a flick of his wrist before he follows Raza into one of the tents. Inside there are supplies and weapons crates, along with a red flag with ten rings overlapping and arranged in a circle; within that circle are two swords, crossed like an 'X.'**

"Isn't that the flag we saw in the beginning?" Steve points out, "When they were, ah... recording you, I mean."

"Yes, Steve, that's the same flag," Natasha confirms with a nod, _"The Ten Rings."_

 **However, the first thing Obadiah sees upon entering isn't the flag or the crates, rather, it's the Mark I; the original Iron Man armor.**

"The weapon..." Bruce puts the pieces together, shaking his head in worry, "My, God..."

 **"His escape bore unexpected fruit," Raza explains once he enters, walking over to a table that seems to be covered in blueprints.**

 **Stane makes his way over the suit** , **crossing his arms over his chest so as not to appear too eager, "So this is how he did it."**

"If only he'd seen it!" Clint grins, trying to lighten the mood. It must work a little, because Tony finds himself wearing a self-satisfied smirk despite himself.

 **"This is only a first crude effort," the other man continues as Obie makes his way over to exam the suit closer, "Stark has perfected his design. He has made a masterpiece of death." He looks longingly at the Mark I, his expression almost matching Obadiah's, "A man with a dozen of these can rule all of Asia. And you dream of Stark's throne."**

 **Obadiah looks over his shoulder at the terrorist leader, his glare holding disbelief of the fact that Raza thinks he'd just give him a dozen of these suits.**

"Raza can't be stupid enough to actually believe Obie would take a deal like that, right? I mean, giving your frenemies power? That's just _asking_ for it," Tony scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

Natasha's lips quirk up in the corners; perhaps Tony Stark does have some common sense after all.

 **"We have a common enemy," Raza decides when the businessman turns his attention back to the armor, running his fingers thoughtfully along the hole in the chest plate; where the arc reactor belongs. "If we are still in business, I will give you these designs as a gift." He pours some liquid into a cup and looks to the older man, who still hasn't said much at all, "And in turn, I hope you'll repay me with a gift of Iron Soldiers." He smiles a bit smugly as he offers the freshly poured glass to Obadiah.**

"I think he just realized what belongs there," the Super Soldier notes with an air of suspicion as he watches on-screen Obadiah Stane drag is fingers around the edges of the arc reactor slot.

The genius shivers, memories of pain and paralysis flashing before his eyes in an arc reactor shade of blue, but he does his best to shake it off for now. He has a feeling they'll get to that part later.

 **Stane approaches, but rather than take the glass, he leans over the leader of the Ten Rings, holding what appears to be a silver contraption shaped almost like a flash drive. He pulls down on the silver bit and the thing starts to glow red, just as a high pitched ringing comes screeching out of it.**

 **Raza tenses, but Obie, who clearly has earplugs in, simply stares him down and allows the ringing to continue.**

 **Raza's breathing speeds up and his head snaps forward as a cascade of blue veins appears on the side of his head like webs.**

The genius suddenly goes as still as Raza on screen. He can't stop it anymore; the ringing is in his ears, bouncing around in his head along with the constant screaming of, _"Pepper! Pepper! He needs to save Pepper... he_ _ **has**_ _to stop Obadiah... he has to. Why is he just sitting here? He needs to_ _ **go**_ _..."_

"Tony?" Natasha questions; JARVIS pauses the movie when he doesn't respond.

 _"Sir? You are completely safe, please just take a deep breath,"_ The AI councils from above, his calming and familiar voice penetrating Tony's shaken thoughts and snapping him out of whatever dark places his mind had attempted to drag him.

JARVIS always knows how to take care of him.

The genius gasps out a breath, his wide brown eyes meeting calm and collected emerald green.

"You alright?" The redhead questions, rubbing soothing circles into his arm. Her face was placid but her eyes were almost dripping with worry.

He nods, and she nods, and although his ears still seem to be ringing, it's significantly quieter than before. He'll just have to ignore it for now.

Clearing his throat, he gestures to the screen before anyone can ask what just happened, "Ah, Jarvis, hit um... hit play, my darling."

 _"Of course, Sir."_ He responds without a moment's hesitation, recognizing that his creator needed time to collect himself.

 ** _"This is the only gift you shall receive,"_** **Obadiah says in Raza's native language. He straightens up, gazing down at the man who seems to be having difficulty moving. "Technology," he says, turning off the device and pocketing it, "it's always been your Achille's heel in this part of the world." He reaches up to remove the ear plugs and puts them away with the device.**

 **He glances back at Raza's worried face as he starts making his way towards the exit, "Don't worry. It'll only last for 15 minutes," he says, rubbing his hand over the terrorist's head as he walks out, "That's the least of your problems."**

Clint swallows hard and glances around the room, "Did anyone else just get the chills? Man, that guy is scary."

 **When Obadiah steps outside, his men have rounded up all of the terrorists, who are kneeling with their hands over the heads. "Crate up the armor and the rest of it," he orders them. Making his way back to the SUV, he calls back, "Alright, let's finish up here."**

"Wait, what-" Steve starts, but is quickly cut off by the noise on the TV.

 **The last thing heard before Stand gets into the vehicle and slams the door is the sound of gunfire.**

"Oh, my god. I mean, I know they're terrorists, but to just massacre them like that..." Clint sighs, shaking his head.

"Ready, fire, aim," Tony deadpans, a far away look in his eyes as he looks at the man on screen who, at one point in his life, would have felt like more of a comfort than a total stranger.

 **"Set up sector 16 underneath the arc reactor, and I'm gonna want this data masked. Recruit our top engineers. I want a prototype right away," he says into his phone as he's driven out of the camp.**


	17. UPDATE

Hey guys, before you get too excited, no this isn't a chapter. I just want to let everyone know that I'll be moving this story to AO3 because FFN is fucking stupid. They're claiming that my story is in violation of their rules, and they suggested I either delete my hard work or move it somewhere it's accepted. So that's what I'm gonna do, because I know you guys really love this story and I don't want to give up on it.

Since I'll have to re-upload each chapter individually on AO3 it might be a bit before there's a new update. I'll have to go through and bold all the movie descriptions and add italics where they're meant to be, because when I paste my work there it doesn't stay how I formatted it... It's going to be a lot of work but I promise I'll do it.

My AO3 account is Airbrushed

I'm pretty sure there are already a few chapters there of this story, but I remember I stopped putting them there because it was too difficult. Anyways, sorry that this wasn't an update and that it's kind of bad news, but if you wanna blame someone blame FFN and there dumb rules.

Thanks for sticking with me 3 never thought I'd get so much love for something as simple as writing

SINCERELY, A VERY ANGRY AIRBRUSHED~


	18. Last Update

Hey everyone, it's been a while. Thanks to everyone who is still reading this story and leaving nice comments!

I am sorry to say that I don't believe I'll be finishing this story, as I was forced to delete it off of Archive of Our Own due to "terms of use violations." I just thought I would let you know so you no longer go looking for it there. I have no intentions of deleting it here unless asked to by the website, but I won't be updating it either. I don't really use this site much- I am much more active on A03 and am planning to maybe post a stony fic on my account there in the future. It's a work in progress. I'm also coming up with some plans for some potential Voltron fics, if anyone is interested.

So, yeah, that's the t e a. Thanks again for your comments and I'm sorry that I won't be continuing this story!

~Airbrushed


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